Cyclone Montha continues to intensify over the Bay of Bengal and is expected to make landfall near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday evening. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has upgraded its warning to a red alert for several coastal districts, predicting very heavy rainfall and strong winds as the storm approaches.
According to IMD’s latest update, Montha has strengthened into a cyclonic storm and is moving northwestwards at around 15 km per hour. The system currently lies a few hundred kilometres southeast of the Andhra coastline and is likely to develop into a “severe cyclonic storm” by early Tuesday morning.
Authorities in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu are on high alert. The Andhra government has announced school holidays in several districts, while disaster management teams have been deployed to vulnerable areas. The Indian Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are coordinating with state administrations to assist in rescue and relief operations if required.
Odisha has begun evacuating residents from low-lying coastal regions, with over a hundred disaster response teams already positioned. Fishermen have been strictly advised to avoid venturing into the sea, as storm surges up to one metre above the normal tide are expected to inundate parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam.
Heavy rain warnings have also been issued for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and parts of southern West Bengal. Chennai is under an orange alert and is expected to see continuous rainfall through Tuesday and Wednesday.
The IMD forecasts that Cyclone Montha will cross the Andhra coast by Tuesday evening as a severe cyclonic storm, bringing with it damaging winds, rough seas, and widespread rain across eastern India. Emergency services remain on standby to handle any situation as the storm nears landfall.
