Cyclonic storm Kyant weakens, moves towards south coastal Andhra

Cyclone Kyant, which was feared to wreak havoc in the coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, is now gradually weakening into a depression and may have the landfall between Ongole and Nellore in south Andhra in the next 24 hours.

Cyclone Kyant, which was feared to wreak havoc in the coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, is now gradually weakening into a depression and may have the landfall between Ongole and Nellore in south Andhra in the next 24 hours.

This NASA satellite image from Saturday shows Tropical Cyclone Kyant in the Bay of Bengal. (AFP)

According to Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre, the cyclonic storm over west central Bay of Bengal moved further towards south-west and lay centred at about 380 km south-east of Visakhapatnam and 560 km of Machilipatnam in Krishna district on Thursday morning.

“It is likely to move further southwestwards in the next 24 hours. It will weaken into a deep depression during the next 12 hours and further into a depression in the subsequent 24 hours before the landfall,” a bulletin from the centre said.

Under the influence of Kyant, which means crocodile in the Mon language spoken in parts of Myanmar and Thailand, there would be strong surface winds from the northerly direction with a speed of 45-55kmph along and off the coastal Andhra, it said.

The bulletin said sea conditions will remain rough to very rough and fishermen are advised from not venturing out in the sea.