Relief for Odisha, Andhra as Cyclone Jawad likely to weaken into deep depression

Death of a teenager reported from Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh after a tree came crashing down on him during heavy rain

BHUBANESWAR/ KOLKATA VISAKHAPATNAM: India’s east coast is unlikely to face the fury of cyclonic storm Jawad which has weakened into a deep depression before reaching the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast but thousands of people living along the sea have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, officials said on Saturday.

However, a teenager was killed in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh after a tree came crashing down on him in heavy rain under the influence of the tempest. People of Odisha, already battered by cyclone ‘Gulab’ and ‘Yaas’ in the last one year, heaved a sigh of relief as the storm began ebbing away while still rolling over the sea.

There was no rain in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar and coastal districts since noon, prompting the authorities to stop evacuation.

“About 1,500 people have been evacuated, including 300 pregnant women. We have stopped evacuation now,” an official said. The system is likely to hit the Puri coast (Odisha) as a deep depression after getting weakened inside the sea during its journey to the shore, Weather Scientist US Dash of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said Saturday morning.