Bhubaneswar: The severe cyclonic storm “Michaung” (pronounced as Migjaum) over west-central Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh and adjoining north Tamil Nadu coasts moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 9 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centered at 0430 hours IST on Tuesday over west-central Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh and adjoining north Tamil Nadu coasts, about 30 km northeast of Nellore, 130 km south-southwest of Bapatla, 190 km north of Chennai and 190 km south-southwest of Machilipatnam, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its morning bulletin on Tuesday.
Currently, its intensity is near the center with a wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph. It has moved north-northeastwards with a speed of 9 kmph during the past 6 hours.
As the system is nearly moving northwards close to the coast, some parts of the wall cloud region lie over land. The system is likely to move nearly northwards parallel and close to the south Andhra Pradesh coast and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam, close to Bapatla during the forenoon of December 5 as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph.
Meanwhile, it has been raining in several parts of Odisha, including the capital city of Bhubaneswar, since Monday morning bringing down the day temperature considerably. The IMD has sounded an alert for heavy rain in six coastal districts of the state today.
Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Center in Bhubaneswar has warned of heavy to very heavy rain in five districts of south Odisha. An orange alert has been issued for Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Malkangiri, and Koraput districts which may experience 70 to 200 mm of rainfall with a speed of 40 to 50 kmph.
Odraf teams have been deployed in these six districts given the situation. Additional fire brigades are on alert. The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has held an urgent meeting with various departments and directed the Collectors of all districts to remain alert.
