Hudhud: High-level meet to take stock of preparedness
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New Delhi: A high-level meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth will be held Thursday to take stock of preparedness for cyclonic storm 'Hudhud', which is expected to hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast by October 12.
The National Crisis Management Committee meeting will be attended among others by representatives of Home Ministry, Meteorological department, National Disaster Response force, armed forces and others, official sources said.
The meeting comes after Met reports suggested the "very severe cyclonic storm" is likely to hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast by October 12 and unleash heavy rainfall and gusty winds with speed up to 155 kmph.
'Hudhud' has crossed the area between Port Blair and Long Island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago today, with winds gusting at 67 kmph.
The sources said force mobilisation for a possible evacuation of people and maintaining essential supplies in case of emergencies will be discussed.
Hudhud will be the second major cyclone after Phailin, which hit the eastern coast in October last year. While Phailin, which was also a "very severe cyclonic storm" saw winds gusting up to 210-220 kmph, Hudhud may not be as severe as Phailin.
Met department has predicted that "heavy rainfall" to "very heavy rainfall" at few places would commence over Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of North coastal Andhra and Ganjam, Puri and Khurda districts of Odisha from October 11.
NDRF's one battalion each comprising 1150 personnel in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are in total preparedness. Four teams (one team comprises 55 personnel) of the force have left for Visakhapatnam and they would be further repositioned based on the request made by the two state governments.
