Asani weakens significantly, but landfall delayed: Met

AMARAVATI: Cyclonic storm 'Asani' lay centered some 20-30 km off Machilipatnam coast in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday evening as strong northwesterly winds were said to be hindering its landfall.

Asani is expected to weaken into a deep depression later tonight before weakening further into a depression by Thursday morning, according to Met.

The storm that was earlier in the day moving at a speed of 6 kmph, slowed down considerably to 3 kmph by evening, though it was estimated that it would cruise towards Narsapuram and make landfall.

Many districts along the Bay of Bengal coast witnessed moderate to heavy rain under the influence of Asani even as the government machinery has been fully geared up to meet any emergency.

State Disaster Management Authority sources said the cyclone threat has now "almost subsided" but the alert would continue for at least the next 24 hours.

Rainfall ranging from 1 cm to 6.5 cm was recorded at different places in the coastal districts from Srikakulam to Bapatla and Ongole since Tuesday, authorities here said. Tirupati and SPS Nellore districts also received rain on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy conducted a videoconference with Collectors of coastal districts and reviewed the situation. He asked the administration to be on high alert and fully geared up to meet any eventuality. "Focus should be on preventing loss of lives," he added.

He asked the Collectors to open relief camps wherever required and move people from vulnerable areas to safety.

Rains and heavy winds caused a lot of damage to crops in Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and other districts.

Officials said enumeration of the losses would be taken up after the storm abated. Flight services to and from Visakhapatnam airport have been cancelled for the second day.

In Vijayawada airport as well, many flight services were cancelled for the day because of the cyclone. Also, the South Central Railway cancelled several trains running on the Vijayawada-Howrah route and also the Vijayawada-Gudur section due to Asani impact.