Severe cyclonic storm Asani is over west-central region and adjoining southwest region of the Bay of Bengal. The Met department earlier said it was about 590km southwest of Puri and about 510km south-southwest of Gopalpur in Odisha.
The duty officer at the Cyclone Warning Center in Vishakhapatnam said it is 330km south-southeast of the city. “It is likely to move further northwest till tonight, thereafter it'll recurve,” the official was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The storm, which moved 12kmph in west northwest direction over the last few hours, would lessen its intensity by Tuesday night as it came closer to the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and cause heavy rain.
{{/usCountry}}The storm, which moved 12kmph in west northwest direction over the last few hours, would lessen its intensity by Tuesday night as it came closer to the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and cause heavy rain.
{{/usCountry}}The airport authorities in Chennai said 10 flights, including those coming from Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur and Mumbai, were cancelled due to the cyclone. “Passengers were informed about the same yesterday,” an official said.
Earlier, IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the cyclone would not make landfall either in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh but will move parallel to the east coast and cause heavy rain.
At least 11 fishermen from Odisha, who were stranded for around eight hours in the rough sea due to the cyclone, were rescued on Monday with help of the Indian Coast Guard, an official said.
Also read | Cyclone Asani: Relief team in Odisha; trees uprooted in Andhra Pradesh
On May 7, the fishermen had gone to Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam to buy a fishing boat, and while returning from there, they were stuck in the sea around 4-5 km off the coast near Sonaput in Ganjam district after their newly bought vessel developed some technical glitches, he said.
The Odisha government had planned evacuation of people residing in four coastal districts. Distant warning signal 2 (asking ships not to come near the coast) had also been hoisted in all ports in the state.
Besides Odisha and Andhra, heavy rainfall was likely in parts of Telangana, West Bengal and Jharkhand. The Hyderabad Meteorological Centre said rain and thundershowers are likely to occur at one or two places in some districts of Telangana during the next four-five days under the influence of the cyclone.
In Bengal, a heavy downpour was expected in the southern stretches, including Kolkata, Howrah, Purba Medinipur, North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts till Thursday.
Kolkata and its adjoining areas received a spell of downpour on Monday morning, leading to waterlogging of thoroughfares and causing traffic snarls in various parts of the city.
The weather office in Ranchi said Jharkhand will experience light to moderate rainfall, besides lightning and thunderstorm, in its southern, central and northeast parts from May 11 to 13.
(With agency inputs)