Cyclone Titli: Red alert issued in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh

The Odisha government on Tuesday ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and Anganwadi centres till October 10-11 in four districts of the state as a precautionary measure against Cyclone Titli. Cyclone Titli is very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours.

Titli has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, triggering rainfall in several parts of Odisha. It is also expected to make landfall between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts tomorrow morning.  It is very likely to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm during the next 18 hours.

The Met department has warned of “heavy to very heavy rainfall” at several places and “extremely heavy rainfall” at isolated areas till tomorrow under the impact of the severe cyclonic storm.

The IMD has also issued a red alert in Odisha for Wednesday and Thursday, forecasting “heavy to very heavy rainfall” at several places and “extremely heavy rainfall” at isolated areas in the state. Heavy rainfall is likely at some places in south coastal Odisha’s Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts from today. Districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall Wednesday and Thursday, the IMD said. It also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall for Kandhamal, Boudh and Dhenkanal district from Thursday.

The Odisha government was also cautioned about possible floods in view of the heavy rainfall across the state.