October 12, 2014
Cyclone Hudhud, which hit Visakhapatnam on the coast of Andhra Pradesh before 11 am on Sunday, has now lost speed, the weather department has said. The cyclone currently has a wind speed of 120-130 kmph.
October 12, 2014
Cyclone Hudhud, which hit Visakhapatnam on the coast of Andhra Pradesh before 11 am on Sunday, has now lost speed, the weather department has said. The cyclone currently has a wind speed of 120-130 kmph.
Fisherwomen watch the sea waves before evacuating the place near Podampeta village, on the outskirts of Gopalpur beach in Ganjam district, 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. Indian authorities were evacuating hundreds of thousands of people Saturday as a powerful cyclone Hudhud swept through the Bay of Bengal and headed toward the country's east coast.
The eye of the cyclone which passed over Visakhapatnam or Vizag as it's known left a trail of destruction. Some of the shops in the city were completely destroyed.
The top windspeed as the cyclone hit land had been 195 kmph along the Andhra Pradesh coast, but the Met department has said that it will drop to half in the next few hours.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu appealed to people to stay indoors. "I appeal to people in coastal districts to stay indoors even 6 hours after the cyclone's effect. Your safety is my concern," he tweeted.
Four people were killed – three in Andhra Pradesh and one in Odisha – in separate rain-related incidents. Vizag, which has a huge naval base, was hit the hardest. The Met department said that rescue and relief operations there will be crucial in the next few hours. Aircraft should be able to fly over the area tomorrow morning, said officials.
An Indian woman shields herself with a plastic bag as she walks on a road in the rain, in Bhubaneswar, India, Friday, Oct. 10, 2014. According to Indian Meteorological Department reports, severe cyclonic storm Hudhud is likely to hit Andhra Pradesh and Orissa coasts Sunday.
Coastal Odisha is seeing slower winds, but the southern part of the area will see heavy rain, said the Met department.
Strong wind and rains were reported in Vizag, where power lines have snapped, trees have been uprooted, and some roads are blocked now.
At least 400,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The evacuation effort was comparable in scale to the one that preceded Cyclone Phailin exactly a year ago, and which was credited with minimizing fatalities to 53.
Indian fishermen move a boat away from the coast following a cyclone warning near Podampeta village, on the outskirts of Gopalpur beach in Ganjam district, 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. Indian authorities were evacuating hundreds of thousands of people Saturday as a powerful cyclone Hudhud swept through the Bay of Bengal and headed toward the country's east coast.
The Indian Ocean is a cyclone hot spot. Of the 35 deadliest storms in recorded history, 27 have come through the Bay of Bengal – and have landed in either India or Bangladesh.
