(MENAFN- Live Mint) Cyclone Montha made landfall as a "severe cyclonic storm" on Tuesday night. It crossed the Andhra Pradesh and Yanan coasts between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, to the south of Kakinada, the India Meteorological Department said early Wednesday.

The landfall process started around 7 pm. Hours later, after making the landfall, the "severe cyclonic storm" Montha weakened into a cyclonic storm over coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The IMD said on Wednesday that it is likely to“move nearly northwestwards across coastal Andhra Pradesh and maintain its intensity of cyclonic storm during the next 6 hours, and weaken further into a deep depression during the subsequent 6 hours.”

Cyclone Montha was expected to trigger heavy to extremely heavy rainfall parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Telangana, South Chhattisgarh, and Odisha on Wednesday.

Cyclone Montha weather forecast:

Odisha: The IMD issued a red alert in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapathi and Ganjam. The rest of all the districts were on yellow alert.

Telangana: The IMD issued a red alert in Mulugu, Khammam and B Kothagudem. An orange alert for heavy rainfall was also issued for other districts such as Nalgonda, Mancherial, Peddapalle, Hanamkonda and Suryapet.

Andhra Pradesh: Most parts of Andhra Pradesh are on red and orange alert. Extremely heavy rainfall is expected in Prakasam, Nellore, Elluru, Tirupathi, East Godavari, Guntur and Krishna.

An orange was issued in Kurnool, Anantaouramu, Srisathyasai, Annnamayya, Chittoor and YSR Kadapa.

Maharashtra, Gujarat: The IMD predicted "heavy rain, thunderstorm and Lightning, Squall etc" in the Gujarat Region, Saurashtra & Kutch region, Konkan & Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha region.

An orange alert for very heavy rainfall was issued in Vidarbha, Saurashtra and Kutch.

35 flights cancelled

In the wake of Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) Montha, over 35 flights between Shamshabad in Telangana and Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Rajahmundry airports in Andhra Pradesh were cancelled, GMR Airports said, as per news agency ANI.

A total of 30 IndiGo, two Air India and five Air India Express flights have been cancelled as the SCS Month approaches the Andhra Pradesh coast around Kakinada.

Eight Odisha districts 'likely to be the most affected'

Normal life was affected in 15 Odisha districts.

After chairing a high-level meeting to assess the State's preparedness for Montha, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that the eight districts of South Odisha are“likely to be the most affected.”

They include Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, and Nabarangpur.

Majhi added that the state government is "fully prepared to deal with this situation".

He said on Tuesday that 11,396 people have been evacuated, and 30 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRF) and five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed as part of measures for the Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) 'Montha'.

Cyclone 'Montha' destroys crops in 1.76 lakh hectares across Andhra

Standing crops spread over 38,000 hectares and horticulture crops in 1.38 lakh hectares were destroyed in Andhra Pradesh due to the impact of the severe cyclonic storm 'Montha', the Chief Minister's Office said on Tuesday.

"Due to the impact of the cyclone, heavy rains across the state destroyed standing crops in 38,000 hectares and horticulture crops in 1.38 lakh hectares," said a press release from the chief minister's office, citing preliminary estimates.

The cyclone was expected to impact 403 mandals across 22 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

(With inputs from agencies)

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