The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of a “severe cyclonic storm” named Montha, which is expected to make landfall today. The Bay of Bengal Deep Depression, which recently intensified to form Cyclone Montha, was located near 14 degrees north latitude and 83.5 degrees east longitude on October 27 at 11:30 p.m.
With maximum sustained winds of 90-100 km/h gusting up to 110 km/h, Cyclone Montha is intensifying to make landfall today. According to the latest IMD update, it is located “280 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 360 km south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 410 km south of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 610 km south-southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha).
The IMD has issued a weather warning for various areas of Andhra Pradesh, Telagana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Kerala where Cyclone Montha is expected to make an aggressive and widespread impact.
According to the IMD, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to end:
Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mahe, Coastal Karnataka: 28 October
Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Telangana and Odisha, Chhattisgarh: Till 30th October
Cyclone Montha Landing
The Met department warned that weather systems over the Bay of Bengal continued to bring moisture to the region, intensifying the storm into “severe” cyclonic storm Montha.
According to the IMD, the cyclonic storm will make landfall about 200 km from Odisha’s Malkangiri, near Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada, between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam in the evening or night of October 28.
In its latest press release, the IMD said, “A tree rise of about 1 m above astronomical tide is likely to cause flooding in low-lying areas of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam (from Puducherry) at the time of landfall. Some low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are at risk of flash floods.”
Red alert in Andhra Pradesh
Several districts of Andhra Pradesh are on red alert today, including Vizianagaram, Vishakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, Yanam, Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema and West Godavari. The prevailing weather systems are expected to bring “extremely” heavy rainfall over the next two days as well, so the red warning remains in place and will not be lifted until after the 30th.
Red alert in Odisha
Makangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam districts of Odisha are on red alert due to heavy rains. In addition, orange and yellow warnings are in effect for regions that could be less affected by Cyclone Month’s weather system.
Orange alert in Tamil Nadu
Several districts of Tamil Nadu are on orange alert today, including Chengalpattu, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Thiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram.
Red alert in Telangana
Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad districts of Telangana are on red alert for heavy rains.
IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall, thundershowers, lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 km/ha has issued orange warning for Komuram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Khammam, Warangal, Hanumakonda districts of Telangana.
Apart from the states mentioned above, its impact will also be felt in West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Bihar.
