Puri: Severe cyclonic storm Asani is over the west-central region and adjoining the 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 said.
Cyclone Asani will likely move nearly northwestwards till the night of May 10 and reach west-central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coast and the adjoining Odisha coast. It is likely to trigger heavy to very heavy rains in the coastal region from Tuesday.
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.
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.
(Smit Soni)
