South Odisha and Coastal Andhra on extreme weather alert

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday issued a cyclone alert for South Odisha and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

In an official release at 6 p.m., the IMD said there is a deep depression over west central Bay of Bengal which is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 60-70 kmph in next 12 hours.

The IMD said the deep depression lay centered over west central Bay of Bengal about 290 km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam (Coastal Andhra Pradesh) and about 270 km southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha).

"It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during next 12 hours. It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and cross south Odisha, north Andhra Pradesh coasts between Kalingapatnam and Puri (Odisha), close to Gopalpur around mid-night of Thursday as a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph," it said.