AP braces for Cyclone Mandous; heavy rains likely in 3 southern districts

AMARAVATI: Parts of Tamil Nadu and southern coastal Andhra Pradesh brace for 'Cyclone Mandous' which is expected to make a landfall between Puducherry and Sriharikota late on Friday night. The Indian Meteorological Department has said that the severe depression formed in the Southeast Bay of Bengal has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and has since been named 'Cyclone Mandous'. It said that the cyclone was centred at a distance of 530 km east-southeast of Karaikal in Tamil Nadu and 620 km from Chennai.

The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, acting on the IMD instructions, has sent warning messages to more than one crore subscribers in six districts of Andhra Pradesh through Common Alert Protocol in the wake of the cyclone threat.

The officials are monitoring the impact of the cyclone and giving instructions to the authorities from time to time. Stating that the cyclone was moving in a west-northwest direction, the officials announced that there was a possibility of the cyclone crossing the coast between Puducherry and Sriharikota late on Friday night.

The Andhra Pradesh Disaster Management Authority officials forecasted heavy rains along with gusty winds at a speed of 65-85 kmph in the districts of Prakasam, Nellore and Tirupati of South Coastal Andhra for three days before and after the cyclone crosses the coast. Annamayya and YSR Kadapa districts of Rayalaseema are also expected to witness light to moderate rains.

Meanwhile, the state has put its official machinery on high alert due to the possibility of heavy rains and deployed five NDRF and four SDRF teams to carry out relief operations. The authorities have warned the fishermen against venturing into the sea till Saturday and farmers were advised to take appropriate precautions.