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A lone resident walks by the rough sea in Bara Aryapalli coast in Ganjam district in Orissa bodering Andhra Pradesh. (Express Archive)
Several districts of Andhra Pradesh have seen strong winds and heavy rain on Tuesday morning as Cyclone Montha approaches the coast.
Before the cyclone makes landfall, which is likely to take place on Tuesday night, officials have traced 3,361 pregnant women whose expected delivery date is less than seven days away and who live in areas projected to be hit by the cyclone, and moved them to hospitals.
The districts of Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Konaseema, Krishna, West Godavari, and Vizianagaram were pounded on Tuesday morning by heavy rain, along with wind speeds of up to 80 km per hour.
A red alert has been issued for these districts. The cyclone is expected to make landfall between Kakinada and Machilipatnam.
Around 10,000 people have been moved to hundreds of relief camps set up in schools and government offices.
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority has said that Cyclone Montha intensified into a severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal. The cyclone has moved at a speed of 12 kmph since Tuesday morning, and is currently centred at a distance of 160 km from Machilipatnam, 240 km from Kakinada and 320 km from Visakhapatnam. It is likely to cross the coast between Kakinada and Machilipatnam on Tuesday night with strong winds reaching a speed of 90-110 kmph during landfall.
As the power supply is expected to be knocked out by the powerful winds, rapid response crews have been positioned at various places with mobile transformers/gensets on standby.
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Officials have opened 242 medical camps, and 283 ambulances have been kept on standby. Debris clearance teams and machinery have also been pre‑deployed at vulnerable stretches. Eleven NDRF and 12 SDRF teams have been positioned for rescue, evacuation and flood response.
Fire Services, swimmers, OBM boats, life jackets, and emergency equipment were placed across coastal zones. Community kitchens have been activated in several cyclone shelters to ensure hot meals and care for children, the elderly, and vulnerable families.
The state government has advised people to avoid travel in coastal districts during this period and follow advisories from the police and administrations.
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