Cyclone Montha makes landfall, crosses Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts

Cyclone Montha

Cyclone Montha, which made landfall on Tuesday night, has crossed the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, to the south of Kakinada, the India Meteorological Department said.

Cyclone Montha had turned into a severe cyclonic storm.

In a post on X, the weather department said, "The latest observations indicate that the severe cyclonic storm, '#Montha', crossed the Andhra Pradesh & Yanan coasts between #Machilipatnam and #Kalingapatnam, to the south of #Kakinada."

According to the latest observation update issued by the IMD at 12:30 am, the severe storm will weaken into a cyclonic storm over the next 6 hours.

The landfall process commenced as the storm crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, around Kakinada.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said on Tuesday that 11,396 people have been evacuated, and 30 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRF) and five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed as part of measures for the Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) 'Montha'.

After chairing a high-level meeting to assess the State's preparedness for Montha, CM Majhi said that the eight districts of South Odisha - Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, and Nabarangpur - are "likely to be the most affected," adding that the state government is "fully prepared to deal with this situation".

CM said that the State government is committed to a "zero casualty" policy. "As always, our goal is zero casualties. To evacuate people, we have prepared 2,040 cyclone and flood-affected sites," CM Majhi said.

"So far, we have evacuated 11,396 people. We are monitoring the situation and are preparing to evacuate more than 30,000 people...We have deployed a total of 30 ODRF, 123 fire brigades, and five NDRF teams. We have also kept more teams on alert," he added.

In the wake of Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) Montha, over 35 flights between Shamshabad in Telangana and Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Rajahmundry airports in Andhra Pradesh have been cancelled, GMR Airports said.A total of 30 IndiGo, two Air India and five Air India Express flights have been cancelled as the SCS Month approaches the Andhra Pradesh coast around Kakinada.

Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area distinguished by swift and often destructive air circulation. Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather. The air circulates inward in an anticlockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.