Cyclone Mandous to cross coast tonight

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday directed the collectors of various districts to be vigilant in view of the cyclonic storm formed in Bay of Bengal likely to cross the coast between Sriharikota and Pondicherry on Friday night. Normal to heavy rains are forecast in South Coastal districts and parts of Rayalaseema on December 9 and 10 in view of the cyclone 'Mandous' landfall between AP and Pondicherry.

The Chief Minister reviewed the cyclone situation at a meeting here. He said that adequate precautions should be taken by the authorities reviewing the impact of the storm from time to time.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that due to the impact of the storm, rain was forecast in Nellore, Tirupati, Chittoor and other districts.

Jagan Mohan Reddy asked the officials of the agriculture department to create awareness about the precautions to be taken by the farmers and to be helpful to them.

According to the meteorological centre, Amaravati, cyclonic storm 'Mandous' centred 550 km southeast of Chennai and moving towards West and Northwestern side. Wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph expected around midnight of Friday.

Under the impact of the cyclone, moderate to heavy rain at isolated places is likely over the next two days in Prakasam, Nellore and Tirupati district in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and in Chittoor, Annamayya and YSR districts in Rayalaseema.

Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority said that alert messages have been sent to over a million subscribers through common alert protocol. Five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and four teams of State Disaster Response force (SDRF) were kept on standby for rescue and relief operations, said AP SDRF.