Hyderabad/Bhubaneshwar:Cyclone Phailin likely to hit Odisha at 175-km/hr.At least 64,000 people residing in the north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh will be moved to cyclone shelters by this evening.according to reports Andhra Pradesh has over 1,000 cyclone shelters of which 850 are functional, while Odisha has 750.
Cyclone could damage crops, disrupt power lines, warns Met Dept :
In a bulletin issued this morning, the IMD has said the cyclone could cause damage to houses as well public infrastructure.The report said there could be some damage to old buildings, while large scale disruption of power and communication lines. Disruption of rail and road traffic due to extensive flooding as well as flooding of escape routes could take place. It also warned of extensive damage to agricultural crops.
Heavy rains lash Andhra,Odisha
Hyderabad/Bhubaneshwar:Heavy rains lashed parts of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday under the impact of severe cyclonic storm “Phailin” which has is set to hit the north Andhra and Odisha coast by Saturday night.
Vizianagaram, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts of coastal Andhra and some parts of Telangana experienced rains, inundating low-lying areas, officials said.
Wind with a speed of 45 to 50km per hour (kmph) was blowing along the coast.
All nine coastal districts of the state went on high alert with the cyclonic storm nearing the coast. Heavy to very heavy rains are likely at some places in the coastal Andhra.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin on Thursday evening, the cyclonic storm lay centred at about 800km southeast of Paradip, 850km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam,and 870km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam.
“It would continue to move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by evening of October 12, 2013 as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 175-185kmph,” it said.
Odisha on Thursday urged the central government to issue standing instructions to the defence forces to extend help as cyclone “Phailin” may hit the state on Saturday.
