Cabinet secretary reviews preparedness for cyclone

“Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the southwest and the adjoining central Bay of Bengal along and off the Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and Odisha coast from October 26 to 29. Those out at sea have been advised to return to the coast immediately,” according to an official release.

At a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), which was chaired by Somanathan, the IMD briefed about the current status of the depression, the release said. “The cyclone had moved nearly westwards with a speed of 7 kmph and lays centred at 950 km east-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu), 960 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 970 km southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) and 1,030 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha) as of 11.30 am on Saturday,” it said.

“It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards, intensify into a deep depression by Sunday and into a cyclonic storm over the southwest and the adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal by Monday morning. Thereafter, it is likely to move northwestwards, then north-northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday morning,” the release said.