Cyclone Montha Makes Landfall; Heavy Rain Lashes Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Cyclone Montha began making landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast and is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm, according to officials.

Speaking to the media, APSDMA Managing Director Prakhar Jain said that the landfall process has started, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain across coastal districts. The cyclonic system has been moving at a speed of 18 kmph over the last six hours.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai said four districts of northern Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, received heavy rainfall as the outer bands of Cyclone Montha approached the east coast. As of Monday morning, the storm was positioned about 480 km east of Chennai over the Bay of Bengal.

“Cyclone Montha is moving in a north-northwesterly direction and is expected to cross the coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada as a severe cyclonic storm on the evening or night of October 28,” said Dr B. Amudha, Director of the RMC.

According to government figures quoted by Reuters, nearly 50,000 people have already been shifted to relief camps as a precautionary measure. Disaster Response teams, including NDRF and SDRF, have been deployed in vulnerable areas.

Authorities estimate that the cyclone may impact around 3.9 million people living in low-lying coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea, and control rooms have been activated in affected districts to monitor the situation around the clock.