Cyclone Hudhud, which has moved slightly north-westwards over the West Central Bay and adjoining East Central Bay, may cross the coast of north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha of India by today morning. The cyclonic storm is likely to intensify further and move in a west-north-westerly direction. It will not hit Bangladesh unless it changes its direction, said a Met official in Dhaka. Meanwhile, a
bout 150,000 people were evacuated on India's eastern seaboard yesterday as Hudhud bore down and grew in sheer force, threatening to devastate farmland and fishing villages, reports Reuters. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) rated Hudhud as a very severe cyclonic storm that could pack gusts of 195 km/h and dump more than 24.5 cm of rain when it makes landfall. The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, run by the United Nations and the European Commission, forecast even higher peak wind speeds of 212 km/h. That would make Hudhud a Category 4 storm capable of inflicting "catastrophic" damage. The IMD last night said the scenario of "very severe cyclone" would persist for nearly six hours post-landfall on today morning. The peak may reach by noon, reports The Times of India. Though Hudhud will not be a super cyclone, its wind speed of 195 km/h would be enough to cause damage. Advertisement Indians taking precautionary measures as large waves hit the beach ahead of Cyclone Hudhud making expected landfall in Visakhapatnam, yesterday. About 150,000 people were evacuated on India's eastern seaboard yesterday as the cyclone bore down and grew in sheer force, threatening to devastate farmland and fishing villages when it hits the coast today morning. Photo: AFP The department has also cautioned about heavy rain in the aftermath of the cyclone in neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The IMD, in its post-landfall outlook said, “Even after landfall the system would maintain the intensity of very severe cyclonic storm for 6 hours and gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm in subsequent 6 hours while moving north-westwards across south interior Odisha and Chhattisgarh.” IMPACT ON BD Talking to The Daily Star, meteorologist Sanaul Hoque said deep convection occurred over the north Bay under the peripheral influence of the cyclone, resulting in moderate to heavy rainfall across the country yesterday. Rainfall is likely to continue to fall over the country today and tomorrow. The inclement weather disrupted launch services on the Mawa-Kawrakandi and Paturia-Daulatdia routes yesterday, causing immense suffering to passengers who were returning to the capital after celebrating Eid-ul-Azha. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department in a special bulletin asked the maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra to hoist cautionary signal number three, meaning vessels should not leave ports until further notice. The low-lying areas of Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barisal, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira and their offshore islands and chars are likely to be inundated by wind-driven surge of 1-3 feet height above normal astronomical tide, warned the department. Cyclone Hudhud, added the notice, has moved slightly north-westwards and was centred about 1,020 kilometres west-southwest of Chittagong port and 870 kilometres southwest of Mongla port at 6:00pm yesterday. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are common at this time of year. These often cause deaths, mass evacuations of coastal villages, disruption of power and phone services as well as damage to crops and property in eastern India and Bangladesh. Launch services on the Mawa-Kawrakandi route were disrupted for about one and a half hours yesterday afternoon due to adverse weather. Only a few speedboats ferried passengers across the Padma. Launches did not ply between Paturia and Daulatdia ferry terminals for about half an hour since 11:00am due to bad weather. Barisal port authorities yesterday afternoon suspended the services of motor launches (ML) and other small vessels of up to 65 feet long on 22 routes of the division due to bad weather. About 100 tourists were stranded in St Martin's Island as they could not return to Cox's Bazar due to rough sea, according to BBC Bangla Service. Our correspondents in Munshiganj, Manikganj and Barisal contributed to this report.
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