DHAKA: Bracing for Cyclone Hudhud that is currently on course to hit the Visakhapatnam coast by Sunday afternoon accompanied by wind speed of up to 155 kmph and very heavy rain, the Andhra Pradesh government is gearing up to evacuate as many as 4.56 lakh people from the coastal villages of east and west Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts by Saturday evening, reports The Times of India.

The Met office said the cyclonic storm, centered about 500km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam and 550km south-southeast of Gopalpur as of Friday evening, is moving west-northwestwards and will intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm by Saturday with a wind speed of 130-140kmph to 155kmph. Thereafter, it would cross north Andhra Pradesh coast near Visakhapatnam by the forenoon of October 12.

Massive deployment for rescue ops

However, much before the expected landfall on Sunday, the cyclone will generate squally wind touching a speed of 70kmph along and off north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts from the morning of October 11 onwards, the Met office cautioned.

The wind speed would gradually increase to 130-140kmph gusting to 155kmph from the morning of October 12 along and off north Andhra Pradesh (East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts) and 80-90kmph along and off adjoining districts of south Andhra Pradesh (West Godavari and Krishna districts) and south Odisha (Ganjam,Gajapati, Koraput and Malkangiri districts), it said.

Due to the cyclone, rainfall is expected at isolated places over Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts, and it might even create a storm surge of about 1-2 metres above astronomical tide which could inundate the low-lying areas of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts.

While informing fishermen that the sea conditions would be rough to very rough from the morning of October 11 itself, the authorities have advised them to suspend all fishing operations from Friday night itself.

South Central Railway too has cancelled and diverted several train services to the coastal areas in view of the cyclone.

The state government has identified 63 mandals in Srikakulam (11), Vizianagaram (7), Visakhapatnam (10), East Godavari (25) and West Godavari (11) as cyclone-prone.

According to Katta Hymavati, special commissioner, state disaster management, arrangements for the evacuation of 4.56 lakh people from 500 villages have been made. "The government has set up 392 relief camps in Srikakulam (110), Vizianagaram (65), Visakhapatnam (40), East Godavari (126), and West Godavari (51) districts. For the rescue operation, 39 boats and 522 swimmers along with 9 teams of NDRF and one team of SDRF have been stationed in Vizag," she said.

BDST: 1212 HRS, OCT 11, 2014