Titli Cyclone: ‘Very severe storm’ crosses Odisha coast; kills 8 in Andra Pradesh

Titli Cyclone: The very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS), ‘titli’ was being monitored by the coastal Doppler Weather Radars at Visakhapatnam, Gopalpur and Paradip. It was said that Odisha was on risk for another 48 hours.

Districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall.(Image: AFP)

Titli Cyclone: The process of landfall of the very severe cyclone Titli started early Thursday with surface wind reaching speeds of 150 kmph at Gopalpur in Odisha's Ganjam district. In the region, man trees were uprooted trees and electric poles and damaged hutments. In Andhra Pradesh, the Cyclone Titli claimed eight lives in the north coastal part of the state. The very severe cyclonic storm with the maximum sustained surface wind speed of 140-150 kmph is gusting to 165 kmph. The Centre has deployed 14 NDRF teams in 11 Odisha districts: Balasore, Sambhalpur, Gajapati, Nayagarh, Puri, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Bhubaneswar. Four NDRF teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam, Srikakulum and Vijaynagram districts. Torrential rains have been lashing many parts of Odisha, with damage potential squally winds wreaking havoc across the state. Odisha is on risk for another 48 hours, which would see more flooding rains today. In Andra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu is reviewing the Titli cyclone situation. After 15th Finance Commission meeting today, the Chief Minister will travel to the affected district, Srikakulam to review the station. Naidu would stay there for the night and oversee the rehabilitation efforts. In the Andhra Pradesh region, two persons dead beside causing widespread damage in Srikakulam district. The very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS), ‘titli’ is being monitored by the coastal Doppler Weather Radars at Visakhapatnam, Gopalpur and Paradip. "The process of landfall has started and it will completely cross the Odisha coast in one or two hours. The system will pass close to Gopalpur," H R Biswas, Director of Metereological Centre, Bhubaneswar, told media. The IMD said, "The forward sector of the eye of the storm has been entering into the land mass." As the landfall process started, at least five districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur are receiving a good amount of rainfall coupled with high-speed winds under the impact of Titli. After the landfall, the system is very likely to re-curve gradually northeastwards, move towards Gangetic West Bengal across Odisha and weaken gradually. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked the collectors of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Kendrapara and Jagtsinghpur districts to start immediate evacuation of people in the low-lying areas in the coastal belt. (with additional input from agencies)