The destructive very severe cyclone ‘Titli’ has crossed the North Andhra Pradesh and South Odisha coast early this morning, near Palasa in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, exactly as India Met Department (IMD) had predicted.
‘Titli’ crossed the coast between 4:30 AM and 5:30 AM accompanied by heavy to very heavy rain and high winds, according to sources in the IMD.
Hour long landfall
According to the sources, the landfall, which takes some time to complete given the size of the storm, started at 5 AM. The entire ‘feature’ entered land by 6 AM.
The microwave ‘eye’ feature associated with a cyclone, typically 30- 65 km in diameter, represents a clear area around the system centre and denotes its strength and intensity. The ‘eye’ is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds occur.
But even at this point, the danger is not yet over since half the cyclone was still out into the sea. Its predicted track along a long stretch to Bengal coast may help it maintain steam.
No big damage reported
Ground reports from Gopalpur indicated that the weather was windy with rains, with intensity varying from moderate to heavy. But the extent of collateral damage was not as heavy compared to Cyclone Phailin—an extremely severe cyclone that hit the coast in 2013—the most intense cyclone to make landfall in India since the 1999 Odisha cyclone.
It is not known yet whether Titli had intensified to this strength last night. Power supply has been stable and road traffic had been restricted from Puri downward to South from 10 PM.
Another ground-level report from Berhampur said that there was just a drizzle and winds up to a maximum speed of 70 km/hr and not much damage till 7:30 AM this morning. Yet another report from Gopalpur said that winds had sped to a maximum of 126 km/hr at Gopalpur near the time of the landfall of the cyclone. There was no report of damage to Durga Puja pandals.
Strengthening Luban
Meanwhile over the Arabian Sea, the other very severe cyclone, ‘Luban’, lay centred over its West-Central Arabian Sea, about 560 km East-South-East of Salalah (Oman), 540 km East-North-East of Socotra Islands (Yemen) and 720 km East-South-East of Al-Ghaydah (Yemen).
It has at least four more days to spend over the waters, which could allow for further strengthening as it moves west-northwestwards towards Yemen and South Oman Coasts.
The Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority of the Republic of Yemen has issued a ‘yellow alert’ along the coast. It is the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre of the IMD that serves the region.