Hudhud Cyclone has finally hit the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh with the wind speed of 180 kmph, reports India.com.
The Hudhud cyclone makes a landfall at Kailasagiri in Visakhapatnam, the report said.
According to Press Trust of India, five persons have been died in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Odisha due to the severe cyclonic storm.
“Worse phase begins now,” says the Indian Navy officer deployed at the coast.
Moments after Hudhud Cyclone strikes the coastal area of Kailasagiri with a wind speed of 180 kmph; first reports of casualty comes in as two die in train-related accident in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts.
The current speed of the Hudhud Cyclone is 170-180 and is expected to rise up to 195 kmph.
The Indian Navy has reportedly deployed 5 diving teams in Srikakulam and 10 teams have left for Visakhapatnam for rescue and relief operations.
Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth will chair a meeting of National Crisis Management Committee shortly.
The Eye of Hudhud cyclone will pass Kalinga, Bheemunipatnam.
The diameter of the Eye is expected to be 50km wide.
There are reports that Hudhud storm will witness a brief hiatus between 11am to 12:30pm.
The number of NDRF teams deployed in the flood-prone region are 42 in total.
The rains are heavy and the winds in the region have been constantly on high since the morning.
A senior Meteorological Department (MET) scientist Sitaram said the Hudhud cyclone will end up being a severe cyclone.
A NDRF personnel present at the cyclone-prone coast said the fishermen are trying to save their boats as the waves will be too heavy and hazardous after 1pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an emergency meeting on Saturday night to review the grim situation emerging in the state.
Modi asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh to stay in touch with Chief Ministers of states likely to be affected by the Hudhud cyclone.
The official statement from the Prime Minister’s office mentioned that Narendra Modi had asked the officials to inform people about Hudhud cyclone and climatic changes on a real-time basis.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the Hudhud storm would pass close to the city of Visakhapatnam in the noon.
The wind speed would be 70-80 kmph initially increasing to 90 kmph as it passes the coastal areas along the north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha in the morning.
The speed would gradually increase to 170-180 kmph rising to 195-200 kmph as the cyclone will hit the East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts (Andhra Pradesh) at 80-90 kmph along and off West Godavari & Krishna districts (Andhra Pradesh) and Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput and Malkangiri districts (South Odisha).
“Even after landfall the system would maintain the intensity of very severe cyclonic storm for six hours and gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm in subsequent six hours while moving northwestwards across south interior Odisha and Chhattisgarh,” statement from IMD said.
The Andhra Pradesh government has identified approximately 400 villages in four districts as disaster-prone.
The precautionary and rehabilitation measures by the government are in full-force.
As more than 300 relief camps have been opened and as many as 19 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams consisting 45-50 members each, have been deployed in the region.
Nearly 4,00,000 people have already been evacuated from regions.
High alert has already been sounded in the northern coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari.
The government has also set-up helpline centres for the latest information on the cyclone. The numbers are 040- 23456005 and 23450419.
Indian Army units are also positioned in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts equipped with power boats and other rescue and relief equipments.
Six helicopters have also been positioned at the Naval base at Visakhapatnam.
All the relief operations will undertaken by the IAF under the leadership of Air Marshal Ramesh Rai, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Headquarters Training Command.
“Sufficient numbers of aircrafts are kept in readiness for this relief operation,” the IAF said.
