Relief for north coastal AP as cyclone Jawad weakens into deep depression with moderate rains

Visakhapatnam, December 4: Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam districts in north coastal Andhra Pradesh were spared from the impact of the cyclonic storm Jawad as the cyclone weakened into a deep depression over the west-central Bay of Bengal before moving to the Odisha coast.

The cyclonic storm Jawad over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved northwards with a speed of 9 kmph during the past six hours, weakened into a deep depression, and lay centered on Saturday evening over the west-central Bay of Bengal about 180 km east-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 260 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha), 330 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha) and 420 km south-southwest of Paradip (Odisha).

It is likely to move north-northeast wards and weaken further into a depression by tomorrow morning. It is likely to reach near Puri by Sunday noon. Subsequently, it is likely to continue moving north-northeastwards along Odisha coast towards the West Bengal coast and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during the subsequent 24 hours.

Parts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam districts received light to moderate rains only with squally winds due to the cyclonic storm. The IMD said that Kaviti Mandal in Srikakulam registered 57.4 mm rainfall followed by Santhabommali (52.8 mm), Sompeta (50.2 mm), Jalumuru (44.6 mm) in the Srikakulam district. Bheemili Mandal in Vizag district registered 15.8 mm rainfall.

However, a 17-year-old second-year intermediate student G Indu was killed at Meliaputti village under Vajrapu Kotturu Mandal in Srikakulam district on Saturday morning as a coconut tree uprooted and fell on her due to the strong winds. The incident took place when the girl was returning from nature's call.

There were no reports of electric poles falling, damage of houses and roads and disruption of power supply, and loss of crops in the region. The farmers in the region said that it was a big relief for us, as the cyclone Jawad spared our region.