Cyclone Montha weakened on Wednesday morning after battering India’s eastern cost with torrential rains and gusty winds as relief teams raced to restore power and clear debris across southern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
The storm made landfall with sustained winds gusting up to 100 kph (62 mph) late on Tuesday night near the port city of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, uprooting trees, damaging roads and flooding low-lying villages before losing some strength as it moved inland, AP reported.
The storm was likely to move northwest across coastal Andhra Pradesh and southern Telangana state as it weakened to a depression, the Indian Metrological Department said Wednesday. By early morning, the sustained winds had weakened to 83 kph (52 mph).
Montha, named by Thailand after a fragrant flower, also caused a storm surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) in Kakinada and adjoining areas.
IMD's latest forecast
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its latest bulletin, said, “The cyclonic storm 'Montha' over coastal Andhra Pradesh moved nearly north-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph during past six hours and lay centered (at 5.30 am) at about 80 km northwest of Narsapur (Andhra Pradesh), 230 km west-southwest of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 460 km southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha).”
The system is likely to move north-northwestwards across coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and weaken into a deep depression during the next 3 hours and into a depression during the subsequent six hours, the IMD said, PTI reported.
With the severe cyclone 'Montha' losing strength after its landfall, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre withdrew its 'red' (take action) and 'orange' (be prepared for action) alerts on the southern Odisha region and issued a fresh forecast.
“We have issued a 'yellow' warning (be aware) of heavy rainfall, very likely to occur at isolated places in Ganjam, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajpati, Kalahandi, and Nawarangpur districts,” said Dr Manorama Mohanty, the director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.
Light-to-moderate rain with wind speed ranging from 30 kmph to 40 kmph was recorded across the coastal belt, including Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts, in the state, the IMD bulletin said, PTI reported.
Several incidents of landslides, uprooting of trees, and damage to houses have been reported from various districts, an official at the Special Relief Commissioner’s office said.
One dead, thousands evacuated
Authorities in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha did not immediately confirm deaths from the storm, though local media reported a woman died after a tree crashed onto her home, AP reported.
Tens of thousands of people in low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha had evacuated to relief camps before the storm hit.
(With inputs from agencies)
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