Cyclone Asani weakens as it approaches Andhra Pradesh

Severe Cyclonic Storm Asani weakened to a cyclonic storm on Wednesday as it reached close to the Andhra Pradesh coast, within 34 km of Narsapur.

Bhubaneswar:Severe Cyclonic Storm Asani weakened to a cyclonic storm on Wednesday as it reached close to the Andhra Pradesh coast and within 34 km of Narsapur. The wind speed has come down to 85 km per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its bulletin today. The system is very likely to move nearly northwestwards for the next few hours and reach the west-central Bay of Bengal close to the Andhra Pradesh coast.

Thereafter, it is very likely to recurve slowly north-northeastwards, move along Machilipatnam, Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni, and Visakhapatnam coasts and emerge into the west-central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coasts by Wednesday evening, after which it is likely to move northeastwards towards northwest Bay of Bengal. The storm is likely to weaken into a depression by Thursday morning, the IMD said.

The IMD has been monitoring the cyclonic storm since the first signs of its formation. So far, it has issued 30 national bulletins since May 7, predicting the track of the cyclone and alerting civic administrations about the possible damage it could cause. Fishermen were asked to suspend fishing operations in the region. as sea condition is likely to be high over west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal till Wednesday evening and very rough to rough over the same region thereafter Thursday.

The weather office has also warned that the cyclone could damage thatched huts, cause minor damage to power and communication lines, harm paddy and other standing crops in Krishna, East and West Godavari, and Vishakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh, and Yanam in Puducherry.

Flight services remain disrupted

All IndiGo flights from Andhra's Visakhapatnam and from Tamil Nadu's Chennai were cancelled on Wednesday morning owing to Cyclone Asani. The Airport Director of Visakhapatnam, K Srinivasa Rao informed that Air Asia also cancelled one flight from Bengaluru and one from New Delhi. However, decision about the evening flights is still awaited, he added. "Air India is yet to decide and convey about their flight operations. SpiceJet Kolkata-Visakhapatnam-Kolkata stands cancelled, they will take a call on Hyderabad flight post 2 pm," Rao said.

As many as 17 domestic flights were cancelled at Chennai airport for the second day today due to the cyclone. 10 flights from Chennai to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Mumbai and Jaipur were cancelled on Wednesday morning. Almost 17 flights have been cancelled so far on Wednesday morning, including 6 from Visakhapatnam, 4 from Hyderabad, 2 from Hyderabad, 2 from Rajahmundry and 1 each from Bangalore, Jaipur and Kolkata, as per the Chennai Airport Authority.