Overview
- The India Meteorological Department says the system will intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and is likely to make landfall between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, October 28 with sustained winds of 115–125 km/h and gusts to 140 km/h.
- The IMD has issued district-level red alerts for five southern Odisha districts and for Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad in Kerala while orange and yellow warnings cover large parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- Andhra Pradesh has set up control rooms, ordered four-hourly bulletins and urged coastal residents to move to safer locations, and Odisha has deployed ministers and five IAS officers to vulnerable districts to oversee evacuation, relief and restoration.
- Heavy rains already reported in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have caused severe waterlogging, localized flooding, school closures and some emergency rescues, increasing the risk of flash floods before the cyclone makes landfall.
- Authorities have cancelled agricultural officers’ leave, launched a farmer helpline and warned fishermen to stay ashore, and emergency teams including NDRF and SDRF are on standby to restore power, assess crop damage and carry out evacuations after the storm.