Red alert in Odisha as Cyclone 'Titli' hits

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. 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.

It is reported that just before hitting the coast, Titli weakened and crossed the coast near Gopalpur, Oidhsa around 6 am today. 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.

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."