Cyclone Fani likely to turn 'very severe'

Visakhapatnam: Cyclone Fani, currently over the southeast Bay of Bengal and the adjoining East Equatorial Indian Ocean, is likely to intensify into a "very severe cyclonic storm" on Monday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.

Fani is centred about 750 km east-southeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 1,080 km southeast of Chennai and 1,260 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

"It is very likely to intensify into a 'Severe Cyclonic Storm' during the next 12 hours and into a 'Very Severe Cyclonic Storm' during the subsequent 24 hours. It is very likely to move north-westwards till April 30 and thereafter recurve north-eastwards gradually," the IMD said in a bulletin.

The Met officials said the cyclone may come 200 to 300 km close to the Andhra coast before changing its course to head towards the coasts of Odisha and Bangladesh.

Under the impact of the cyclone, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are likely to receive heavy rains on April 30 and May 1.

The Met office has forecast thunderstorm with heavy rain and gusty winds with the speed of 40-50 kmph at isolated places in all coastal Andhra districts.

Authorities has issued warnings at the Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Krishnapatnam and Nizampatnam ports.