Cyclone Hudhud in Odisha live updates
Cyclone ‘Hudhud’ now 60km away from Vishakhapatnam, 90km away from Vizag and 240km from Gopalpur, Odisha, IMD bulletin said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning to the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, upgrading the intensity of the Cyclone Hudhud to “very severe cyclonic storm.”
Cyclone Hudhud helplines: Ministry of home affairs, Delhi: 011-23093563, 23093566; Odisha: 1948, Andhra Pradesh: 1949.
With cyclonic storm ‘Hudhud’ over Bay of Bengal nearing the coast, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday that it will spare Odisha and make landfall near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by October 12.
By all accounts Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Gajapati districts in South Odisha would be the most affected when tropical cyclone Hudhud, which is hurtling towards the coast, makes a landfall close to Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh anytime after 8 pm on Saturday, October 11.
With a number of south Odisha districts likely to be hit by cyclone Hudhud, chief minister Naveen Patnaik today directed the officials of the concerned districts to conduct mock drills at all the cyclone shelters tomorrow.
Presiding over a review meeting at the State Secretariat here, the chief minister said, the evacuation process will start from Saturday morning, if the need arises.
The CM has directed the concerned officials to store adequate relief material including drinking water in the areas likely to be affected.
By Thursday morning, it had become clear that “Hudhud” is not going to be anywhere close in severity to that of its predecessor ‘Phailin’, nor is it likely to hit the Gopalpur coast in south Odisha that had borne the brunt of the cyclone last time round.
While wind speed at landfall during Phailin was 210 km per hour, Hudhud would bring winds of up to 140 km/hr, gusting up to a maximum of 155 km/hr.