Severe cyclonic storm ‘Asani’ weakens into cyclonic storm, says IMD | 5 points

Cyclone Asani is expected to weaken from a 'severe cyclonic storm' to a 'cyclonic storm' and will likely become a 'depression' by Thursday morning, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. The IMD said that as of 5.30 am Cyclone Asani was about 40 km south Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to move northwards for the next few hours before slowly turning north-northeast and moving over west-central Bay of Bengal later tonight. "It is very likely to move nearly northwards for (the) next few hours and recurve slowly north-northeastwards along Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts during noon to evening on Wednesday and emerge into west-central Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh coasts by night," the IMD said.

Cyclone Asani warnings for Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

Cyclone Asani came to within 34 km of Andhra Pradesh's Narsapur this morning, bringing with it wind speeds of 85 km per hour and heavy rain.

Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed rain accompanied by strong winds lashing the city of Visakhapatnam. Videos from the coast showed stormy seas with powerful waves washing up to the shore with strong winds. Visuals also emerged of heavy rain in Kakinada district.

According to the weather department, Asani could damage thatched huts, cause minor damage to power and communication lines, and harm paddy and other standing crops in the above-mentioned Andhra districts, as well as Vishakhapatnam and Yanam.

'Heavy to very heavy' rain warnings have been issued along with coastal Andhra Pradesh districts.

Also read: Cyclone Asani: Flights disrupted as heavy rain lashes Andhra. Details here

Warnings of storm surges of over 0.5 metres above astronomical tide levels have also been issued; these could flood low-lying areas in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna and Godavari (East and West) districts, as well as Yanam, which is administered by the union territory of Puducherry.

Telangana is likely to feel the impact of Cyclone Asani in adjoining districts. Nalgonda, Suryapet, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam and Mulugu are likely to receive light to moderate rain.

Light rain is likely over Hyderabad for the next 24 hours and cloudy conditions for the next 48.

Cyclone Asani warnings for Bengal, Odisha

Heavy rainfall is expected at some places over Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts of Bengal till Thursday morning.

In Odisha, five districts - Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam and Gajapati - are on 'high alert'.

Flight services disrupted

Flight operations in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam and Tamil Nadu's Chennai have been disrupted by Cyclone Asani as all IndiGo flights - 22 arrivals and as many departures - were cancelled this morning. Air Asia cancelled two flights - one from Bengaluru and another from Delhi.

SpiceJet too cancelled its Kolkata to Vishakhapatnam flights and will decide on status of Hyderabad flights post 2 pm. Air India, however, has yet to decide on status of their flight operations.

Also read: Severe cyclonic storm Asani: Heavy rainfall in states, gusty winds hit Puri shores

On Tuesday, 10 flights from Chennai to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Mumbai and Jaipur were cancelled in view of Cyclone Asani. According to Chennai airport authorities, 17 flights have been cancelled so far on Wednesday morning - including six from Visakhapatnam, four from Hyderabad, two from Hyderabad and Rajahmundry each and one each from Bangalore, Jaipur and Kolkata.

Warnings for fishermen

The weather department also reiterated its warning to fishermen, asking them to suspend operations in view of rough sea conditions in west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal till Wednesday evening, and likely very rough conditions in the same region on Thursday.