Bhubaneswar, Oct 11: The severe cyclonic storm Titli has made its landfall near Odisha's Gopalpur.
The state government has leaving no stone unturned to ensure minimal casualties that the storm may cause.
Fourteen NDRF teams have been deployed in Odisha's Balasore, Sambhalpur, Gajapati, Nayagarh, Puri, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Bhubaneswar while 4 NDRF teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam, Srikakulum and Vijaynagram. Around 3 lakh people have been evacuated till now.
Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to take stock of preparatory measures in the wake of impending landfall.
The cyclone will bring along with it very heavy rain, which could lead to flooding. Around 300 motor boats are on stand-by in Odisha for rescue efforts.
#CycloneTitli. 08 #CoastGuard Ships including Interceptor Boats deployed by Eastern Seaboard have guided/shepherd more than 215 fishing boats to safety that were operating in Bay of Bengal.@IndiaCoastGuard Aircraft continue to scan sea for strayed boat if any @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/Iu1CmdTR0f
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) October 10, 2018
After the landfall, the cyclonic storm is likely to maintain the intensity throughout Thursday while moving northeastwards across Odisha. In view of cyclonic storm Titli gaining strength, the fishermen have been advised not to venture into west-central and north Bay of Bengal.
Those, who are out in deep sea areas have been advised to return to the coast immediately, officials said. The severe cyclonic storm intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and will cross between Gopalpur (Odisha) and Kalingapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) Thursday morning, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, quoting a bulletin of the India Meteorological Department.
[Cyclone Titli: Schools, colleges to remain closed on Oct 11 & 12]
There may be damage in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh and Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Nayagarh, and Puri districts of Odisha, the NDMA said. After the landfall, the very severe cyclonic storm is most likely to maintain the intensity of cyclone. As a result, the gale wind speed of 60-90 kmph is very likely to prevail over interior districts adjacent to south coastal Odisha and wind speed of 60-70 km per hour over the interior districts adjacent to north coastal Odisha on Thursday, it said.
['Titli' turns into very severe cyclonic storm, to make landfall tomorrow]
The cyclonic storm is being monitored by the coastal doppler weather radars at Visakhapatnam, Gopalpur and Paradip, the NDMA said. The latest observations indicate that the cyclone hover over the west central Bay of Bengal and then will move northwestwards.