Cyclonic storm Kyant in the Bay of Bengal may be heading towards Andhra Pradesh and its impact will be felt from Thursday, weather officials said on Wednesday.
The storm over east-central Bay of Bengal lay centred at 620 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam and 830 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam at 5.30 a.m., on Wednesday.
According to a bulletin by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Kyant moved further west-southwestwards in past six hours with speed 14 kmph.
"The system is very likely to slightly intensify further during next 24 hours. It is most likely to move west-southwestwards towards west-central Bay of Bengal during next 72 hours," the bulletin said.
Officials said the storm may hit the coast in Prakasam district on Saturday.
The cyclonic storm was earlier expected to be moving towards West Bengal and Odisha but it subsequently changed direction.
Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre said the sea will be rough from Thursday and strong winds will blow along and off the coast. It has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off Andhra Pradesh coast. Those already in sea have been asked to return.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Sudha Valli, a senior official with the centre said “Kyant’s movement appears to be peculiar at present. It will take another 24 hours to assess its exact landfall.”
About 1,000 km long coastline of Andhra Pradesh is vulnerable to cyclonic storms during the October-December period.
According to a report in Skymet Weather, the cyclone will hit theAndhra coast between Ongole and Nellore.
The report adds:
On Friday, we can expect heavy to very heavy showers over parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Intensity of winds will also increase by this time, wherein damaging winds can be seen gusting up to 80 kmph.
However, the IMD claimed otherwise. According to a PTI report, M Mohapatra, head of the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD, said Kyant was unlikely to make landfall and hit the coast.
The IMD added that coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha will witness rainfall, especially during the Diwali weekend.
"Light to moderate rainfall at many places over south Odisha, north coastal Andhra Pradesh is very likely on October 27 and 28. Heavy rainfall at isolated places over south coastal Andhra Pradesh is very likely on October 28 to 30 and over north coastal Tamilnadu on October 29 to 31," PTI quoted the IMD as saying.
Kyant is expected to fade into deep depression on October 29, the department added.
Storm HudHud in October 2014 had slammed the coast at Visakhapatnam, killing 49 people and affecting about 21 lakh families in the state. It also caused massive destruction to infrastructure in the port city.
Inputs IANS