Cyclone Helen to make landfall near Ongole in AP, evacuation begins

Lakhs of people in south coastal Andhra Pradesh are being evacuated to safer place as the state prepares to face severe cyclonic storm Helen.

Zee Media Bureau/Ajith Vijay Kumar

New Delhi/Chennai/Hyderabad: Lakhs of people in south coastal Andhra Pradesh are being evacuated to safer place as the state prepares to face severe cyclonic storm Helen.

As per the latest update from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Helen lay centred over west central Bay of Bengal around 460 km east-northeast of Chennai, 360 km from Ongole.

It is likely to cross the coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam near Ongole by tomorrow afternoon.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) tams are also being deployed all across the region.

Squall winds with speed of 75-85 kmph gusting to 95 kmph will prevail in the region. At its peak, the surface wind speed of Helen would be around 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph.

Helen will cause most parts of southern Andhra and eastern Tamil Nadu, with heavy to very heavy rainfall expected in isolated places.

Helen will also cause storm surge of about 1 to 1.5 meteres height in Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts.

Sea conditions would be rough to very rough and authorities have warned fishermen not to venture into high seas.

On October 12, Cyclone Phailin, a very severe cyclonic storm struck the Odisha and north-east Andhra coast, bringing in its wake torrential rains and wind speeds of over 200 kmph.

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