Cyclonic storm Kyant heading towards Andhra Coast: IMD

Cyclonic storm Kyant in the Bay of Bengal may be heading towards Andhra Pradesh and its impact will be felt from Thursday, weather officials said.

The storm over east-central Bay of Bengal lay centred at 620 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam and 830 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam at 5.30 a.m., today.According to a bulletin by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Kyant moved further west-southwestwards in past six hours with speed 14 kmph.

"The system is very likely to slightly intensify further during next 24 hours. It is most likely to move west-southwestwards towards westcentral Bay of Bengal during next 72 hours," the bulletin said.Officials said the storm may hit the coast in Prakasam district on



Saturday.

The cyclonic storm was earlier expected to be moving towards West Bengal and Odisha but it subsequently changed direction.

Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre said the sea will be rough from Thursday and strong winds will blow along and off the coast. It has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off Andhra Pradesh coast. Those already in sea have been asked to return.

About 1,000 km long coastline of Andhra Pradesh is vulnerable to cyclonic storms during the October-December period.

Storm HudHud in October 2014 had slammed the coast at Visakhapatnam, killing 49 people and affecting about 21 lakh families in the state. It also caused massive destruction to infrastructure in the port city.