Cyclone Montha: Andhra and Odisha brace for heavy rain and strong winds

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said that Cyclone 'Montha' is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of October 28.

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The IMD also issued a Red Alert for several coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh for Monday, October 27. The storm is forecast to strengthen further into a severe cyclonic storm before making landfall late on Tuesday.

In its bulletin issued at 9:47 am, IMD said that the cyclone over the Southwest and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal moved northwestwards at a speed of 15 kmph during the past six hours. As of 5:30 am on Monday, it lay centered over the Southwest and adjoining areas of the Westcentral and Southeast Bay of Bengal, near latitude 12.2°N and longitude 85.3°E, approximately:

560 km east-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu)

620 km south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh)

650 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)

790 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha)

810 km west of Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands)