Cyclone Jawad: Over 50,000 people evacuated in AP, heavy rains expected

New Delhi, Dec 04: Ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Jawad, the Andhra Pradesh government has evacuated 54,000 people from three districts. The cyclone is likely to reach the north coast of the state over the weekend.

Before heaving out to the Bay of Bengal, the cyclone will make its landfall in Puri, Odisha. In AP, the rescue team has evacuated 15,755 people from the Srikakulam district, 1,700 from Vizianagaram, and 36,553 from Visakhapatnam.

The Indian Meteorological Department said that at 11.30 pm on Friday, the cyclonic storm lay centred over the west central Bay of Bengal about 250 kilometre southeast of Visakhapatnam, 430 kilometres south-southwest of Puri and 510 km south-south-west of Paradise.

The cyclonic storm is likely to move north-northwestwards till Saturday morning and then recurve north-northeastwards reaching the Puri coast at noon on December 5.

The cyclone is expected to trigger heavy to very heavy rainfall in almost all districts of south Bengal.

The Bengal government has issued a waring to the farmers to reap and bind the corn that is still lying in the fields as severe rainfall could damage the crops. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur on December 4 and 5 in several districts of the state, including Kolkata, South and North 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and Jhargram, the Bengal government said in its alert.

The met department has also predicted that the sea will be rough along the coast of Bengal. On Saturday morning the wind speed on the coast is likely to be at around 75 to 80 mph. Fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea from Friday to Sunday. Those at sea have been told to return by Thursday.

A low depression in southern Thailand is gradually gathering in strength to form a severe cyclonic storm. It is expected to enter India through the South Adaman sea before making a landfall between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coast on December 4 in the morning.