After keeping the Andhra Pradesh administration on tenterhooks, the cyclonic storm over Bay of Bengal, that remained stationary at 200 km southeast off Machilipatnam throughout Wednesday night, was now showing signs of weakening and likely to cross the coast on Thursday. “The storm, packed with a maximum speed of 100 Kmph, remained unmoved till 4:30 am, causing anxiety over possible increase in its ferocity, but started weakening since then,” state relief commissioner B C Rosaiah told PTI in Hyderabad. “We were keeping our fingers crossed throughout last night but the good news now was that the storm was subsiding,” he said. However, the coastal district administration was still on alert to meet any eventuality. The storm now lay centred at 150 km southeast off Machilipatnam and was expected to cross the coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam in the afternoon, which might cause heavy rains in coastal districts of Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna. In view of the substantial weakening of the cyclonic system, there was no threat of gale winds disrupting communications network and damaging power lines, he said. Meanwhile, anticipating severe damages due to the approaching cyclone, about 1.5 lakh people were evacuated from low-lying areas in four vulnerable coastal districts of Nellore, Prakasam, Krishna and Guntur on Wednesday while army, navy and IAF were asked to stand-by to assist in relief operations. Bureau Report