After making landfall over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha, the cyclonic storm ‘Gulab’ weakened into a deep depression around 2:30 am on 27 September, over north Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Monday morning.
The IMD added around 4:15 am that Cyclone Gulab was likely to continue to move west-north-westwards and weaken further into a depression during next 6 hours, news agency ANI reported.
HR Biswas, Director Meteorological Department, Bhubaneswar, was earlier quoted as saying, "There is a possibility of extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of Koraput, Rayagada and Gajapati and the wind speed will remain 50 to 70 kmph."
At least three people were killed in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. As per officials, one person was swept away in Odisha’s Ganjam district and two fishermen from the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh were killed and another went missing, Hindustan Times reported.
Odisha’s special relief commissioner, PK Jena, had said on Sunday, “IMD reports indicate that rainfall is likely to increase as the night progresses. District administration impressed upon to maintain vigil. No major landslides have happened so far. As of 9 pm, about 39,000 people have been evacuated in 6 districts”, reported ANI.
Meanwhile, around 42 teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), 24 squads of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and 102 teams of fire brigade personnel were deployed in seven districts of Odisha.
Fishermen in Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have been asked to not venture into east-central and adjoining the northeast Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, as the sea condition will be rough to very rough over the next two days.
On Monday, Dr K Nagaratna, Head of Meteorological Centre in Hyderabad said, "Few districts of Telangana are very likely to have heavy to very heavy rainfall and at times extremely heavy rainfall. During next 24 hours, Telangana is likely to have gale winds of 30 to 40km/hr gusting to 45 km/hr", ANI reported.
Various parts of Srikakulam district continue to receive heavy rainfall due to Cyclone Gulab. Several roads are submerged, trees and electricity poles are uprooted in some areas. Power supply is interrupted in most parts of the district, ANI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Odisha CM Naveen Pattnaik on Sunday, taking stock of the situation arising in the wake of Cyclone Gulab.
Modi said in a tweet, "Assured all possible support from the Centre. I pray for everyone’s safety and well-being."
(With inputs from ANI and Hindustan Times)
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