Indian authorities have shut schools and evacuated tens of thousands of people from low-lying coastal areas as a precautionary measure to brace for Montha’s impact.
The weather office issued so-called red alerts — the highest level of weather warnings — for 19 districts in Andhra Pradesh, forecasting extremely heavy rains. The neighboring states of Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh are also expected to receive moderate to heavy showers in the next few hours.
Why It Matters
Cyclone Montha started making landfall along India’s eastern coast, the weather office said late Tuesday, with the storm due to bring torrential rains and strong winds.
Montha, swirling over the Bay of Bengal, intensified into a severe cyclonic storm that threatens flooding of low-lying areas in southern Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states through the night.
“Latest observations indicate that the landfall process has commenced,” the Indian Meteorological Department said in its latest bulletin. The process was expected to continue for the next three to four hours.
The storm was hovered around 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the port city of Kakinada in southern Andhra Pradesh state as it makes landfall. The weather system is expected to intensify, bringing winds of 90-110 kph (55-68 mph) as the cyclone pushes toward the country’s eastern coastline.
