Puri, October 9: A flood warning has been issued in several districts of  Odisha after a depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified and moved towards Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast on Tuesday morning. The state is all prepared to brace for Cyclone Titli, which is expected to make landfall in Odisha in the next 24 hours. According to a bulletin issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the depression over the south-east of the central Bay of Bengal, which had concentrated into a deep depression on Tuesday morning, is gradually moving towards the Andhra and Odisha coast and is most likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm named as 'Titli' by Tuesday evening. The cyclonic storm will trigger heavy rainfall and stormy winds in Odisha and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Odisha and Andhra Pradesh Weather Forecast: States to Witness Heavy Rainfall for Next Two Days, Cyclonic Storm Alert Issued.

Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Deputy Officer, Sudarsan Mishra informed that by 5.30 am on Tuesday, the deep depression over east central Bay of Bengal is moving further towards west-north westwards with a speed of about 11 kmph and lay centred over west central Bay of Bengal near 570 km southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha and 510 km southeast of Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

In view of adverse weather conditions, the Meteorological (MeT) centre advised hoisting of Distant Cautionary Signal No 1 at all ports of Odisha. Under the influence of the cyclonic storm, strong wind are expected to blow across the Odisha coast from the evening on October 10 till the afternoon on October 11 while the wind speed will increase to 80-100 kmph in the south coastal Odisha in the morning on October 11.

The state government has asked the collectors of five of its districts to remain on high alert. Reports inform that collectors of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara have also been asked to make necessary arrangements to shift people living in low lying areas in case of any adversity.

The IMD has predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places in Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts from today in view of the cyclonic storm. Also, districts including Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall from October 10.

The sea condition is likely to be rough to very rough over central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal during the 24 hours, and very rough to high on October 10 and 11. In the wake of the rough sea conditions, fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea along and off Odisha coast and central and north Bay of Bengal till October 12.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2018 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).