Andhra, Odisha brace as cyclone ‘Montha’ nears landfall on Oct 28

Cyclone Montha, brewing over the Bay of Bengal, has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and is set to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, likely near Kakinada, on Tuesday evening or night, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

- RAJ KIRAN BATHULA/ TDG NETWORK

At 2:30 p.m. today, the storm lay centred about 440 km east of Chennai, 490 km south-southeast of Kakinada, and 530 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam. Moving north-northwestwards at 17-18 kmph, Montha is expected to make landfall with sustained wind speeds of 90-100 kmph and gusts up to 110 kmph, bringing heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over coastal Andhra districts including Kakinada, Konaseema, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam from early Tuesday.

The Andhra Pradesh government has placed its administration on maximum alert. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the evolving situation from the Real Time Governance Centre (RTGS) and spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who assured full central assistance.