Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday directed the collectors of various districts to be vigilant in view of the cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal.
The Chief Minister reviewed the situation at a meeting here. He said that adequate precautions should be taken by the authorities reviewing the impact of the storm from time to time.
The officials informed Reddy that due to the impact of the storm, rain was forecast in Nellore, Tirupati, Chittoor and other districts.
Jagan Mohan Reddy asked the officials of the agriculture department to create awareness about the precautions to be taken by the farmers and to be helpful to them.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), cyclonic storm ‘Mandous’ lay centered at 0830 hours about 300 km east-southeast of Karaikal and about 550 km southeast of Chennai.
“It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coast between Puducherry and Sriharikota with a maximum sustained wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph around mid night of 09th December,” says IMD bulletin.
Under the impact of the cyclone, heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places was likely over the next three days in Prakasam, SRSP Nellore and Tirupati district in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and in Chittoor, Annamayya and YSR Kadapa districts in Rayalaseema
Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority said that alert messages have been sent to over a million subscribers through common alert protocol.
Authorities have been directed to regularly monitor the progress of the cyclonic storm.
Five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and four teams of State Disaster Response force (SDRF) were kept on standby for rescue and relief operations.
Holiday for schools, colleges in 8 TN districts
With Cyclone Mandous expected on Friday, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday declared a holiday for schools and colleges in eight districts of the state that day.
Schools and colleges in Chennai, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Ranipet, Villupuram, and Vellore will remain closed on December 9 due to the cyclone and heavy rains.
Strong winds are expected in the north Tamil Nadu coast and in Puducherry and Sri Harikota around Mahabalipuram on December 9 midnight.
The winds are likely to turn into a severe storm by December 8 evening and maintain its intensity till December 9 morning. The storm is likely to weaken into a cyclonic storm and cross North Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts with a wind speed of 85 kmph around Friday midnight.
According to Weather Department, heavy rains may begin in Delta districts on Thursday evening and the IMD said that the rain intensity may peak on Friday night as cyclone gets closer to the coast.
Chennai will have heavy rains on December 9 and 10 with rains expected to be around 20cm. The Weather Department said that rains will be extremely heavy in Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Villupuram districts, and a red alert was declared in the three districts.
