Southern Odisha districts on high alert as cyclone brews over Bay of Bengal

Heavy to very heavy rainfall expected on September 26.

Southern Odisha districts were on Saturday put on high alert after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that a deep depression over Bay of Bengal would intensify into a cyclonic storm over the next 12 hours.

“The depression over northeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal moved westwards with a speed of 12 kmph in last six hours, intensified into a deep depression and lay centred over north and adjoining eastcentral Bay of Bengal, about 510 km east-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha) and 590 km east-northeast of Kalingapatnam (Andhra Pradesh),” said an IMD bulletin.

The agency predicted, “It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours and likely to move nearly westwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur around Kalingapatnam by evening on September 26.”