The route of severe cyclone Asani has changed significantly, and it is now expected to hit the Andhra Pradesh coast between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which has issued a "red" warning for the state's coast, indicating that local authorities must take action to avoid disasters caused by the cyclone.
By Wednesday morning, Asani, which means fury in Sinhala, is expected to move northwestwards and approach the west-central Bay of Bengal, near to the beaches of Kakinada and Vishakhapatnam. Following that, Asani is expected to recurve gently north-northeastwards and proceed along the coast of Andhra Pradesh between Kakinada and Vishakhapatnam, before emerging into the northwest Bay of Bengal between the beaches of North Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, according to IMD.
Asani is expected to weaken into a cyclone by Wednesday morning and a depression by May 12 morning, but before that, it is expected to bring heavy rain and extremely powerful gusts to the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Asani was centered around 210 kilometers south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 310 kilometers south-southwest of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 530 kilometers southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha), and 630 kilometers southwest of Puri on Tuesday afternoon (Odisha).
According to scientists, the model predictions were looping, indicating a significant level of uncertainty about Asani's path.
"As you can see, the track has now altered. Between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, Asani will touch and move along the coast of Andhra Pradesh. Asani is now expected to reach the coast early Wednesday morning.
"The impact may not be severe, but people should be prepared," said Ananda Kumar Das, the weather bureau's cyclone monitoring division chief.
"The system was slow-moving, but its decline was expected." However, over the course of several hours, it shrank in size, allowing Asani to maintain her energy and intensity. Model predictions have begun to loop, indicating a significant level of track uncertainty. This implies that anything could happen. "A red warning has now been issued for the coast of Andhra Pradesh," he added.
IMD has warned that a storm surge of around 0.5 m above astronomical tide is anticipated to inundate low-lying areas in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna, East and West Godavari, and Vishakhapatnam districts. From May 11 night, moderate to severe rainfall is expected over coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, with heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas.
On Wednesday, moderate rainfall is expected throughout coastal Andhra Pradesh, with heavy to very heavy rain in a few locations and isolated extremely severe rain (above 20 cm) over coastal Odisha and adjoining coastal West Bengal. Over coastal portions of Odisha and West Bengal, moderate rainfall is expected in a few locations on Thursday, with heavy rainfall in a few spots.
