New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: A "very severe cyclonic storm" is likely to hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast by October 12 and unleash heavy rainfall and gusty winds with speed upto 155 kmph, the Met department said on Wednesday.
The Cyclone 'Hudhud' crossed the area between Port Blair and Long Island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipalego today, with winds gusting at 67 kmph.
"It will cross east coast between Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Gopalpur in Odisha on the noon of October 12. The wind speed range is expected to be 130-140 kmph and may gust upto 155 kmph," Indian Meteorological Director General Laxman Singh Rathore in Delhi.
He, however, added that no landfall point of the cyclone has been zeroed in so far and it is likely to remain over sea.
"The landfall will be in the range of 200 km (between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur) and the cyclone size is about 500 km," said M Mohapotra, scientist with IMD's Cyclonic Warning Division.
Hudhud will be the second major cyclone after Phalian, which hit the eastern coast in October last year. While Phalian, which was also a "very severe cyclonic storm" saw winds gusting upto 210-220 kmph, Hudhud may not be as severe as Phalian.
"It is not as severe as Phalian, but it is in the same category," Rathore said.
The IMD chief said "heavy rainfall" to "very heavy rainfall" at few places would commence over Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of North coastal Andhra and Ganjam, Puri and Khurda districts of Odisha from October 11.
Flanked by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief O P Singh, Rathore said the two departments are in constant touch with each other.
Singh said NDRF's one batallion each in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are in total preparedness. Four teams of the force have left for Visakhapatnam and they would be further repositioned based on the request made by the two state governments.
"One batallion each in West Bengal and Bihar are on alert and could be airlifted anytime if required. The two states will be provided with satellite phones and an NDRF control room would be set up by tomorrow to deal with the situation," the NDRF chief said.
A low pressure area developed over the North Andaman Sea on October 6 and concentrated into a "depression" in the morning of October 7. It further developed a "deep depression" on the same evening in the same area.
It moved west-northwestwards and intensified into cyclonic storm Hudhud this morning over the North Andaman Sea and crossed Andaman and Nicobar islands close to Long Island betweenn 8.30 and 9.30 AM today.
Moving northwestwards, it remained centred at 11.30 AM about 1100 km, southeast of Gopalpur and 1150 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam, a bulletin from IMD said in Bhubaneswar.
On October 10 the severe cyclonic storm will take the form of very severe cyclonic storm with gusting upto 125 kmph on October 10, it said.
However, the wind speed would come down to 100 kmph and the system would take the form of a cyclonic storm on October 13, it added.
The MET office advised hoisting of storm warning of distant cautionary signal number two (DC-II) by replacing the earlier distant warning signal number one (DW-I) at Paradip and Gopalpur Ports in Odisha. It also advised fishermen in deep sea to return to the coast immediately.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who held a review meeting during the day, told reporters in Bhubaneshwar that he had advised evacuation of people if required like it had done when Phailin struck the state last year.
"I reviewed the situation with concerned departments. All preparation have been made on par with the one made to tackle Cyclone Phailin last year ... Go for evacuation of people if required," Patnaik said.
He has asked the State's chief secretary to discuss with the BSNL authorities action plan for immediate restoration of communication system if it is hit by the cyclone.
The name Hudhud has been derived from a bird from Oman.