Cyclone Montha Brings Heavy Rains in AP: High Alert in 23 Districts
Heavy to very heavy rain lashed Kakinada, Nellore, Visakhapatnam, and several other coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh as a depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into Cyclonic Storm Montha.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Montha over the southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal moved northwest at 15 kmph and was centered at 5:30 am on October 27, 2025 — about 560 km east-southeast of Chennai, 620 km south-southeast of Kakinada, 650 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, 790 km south of Gopalpur, and 810 km west of Port Blair.
The storm is likely to continue moving northwestward over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal for the next 12 hours, then turn north-northwest and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of October 28. It is expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada, on the evening or night of October 28 as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 90–100 kmph, gusting up to 110 kmph.
In view of the cyclone, 23 of Andhra Pradesh’s 26 districts have been placed on high alert.
Red warnings, indicating extremely heavy rainfall, have been issued for SPSR Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema, and Kakinada districts. The remaining districts, excluding Anantapur, Kurnool, and Sri Sathya Sai, are under orange alerts, forecasting heavy to very heavy rain.
In Kakinada, expected to bear the brunt of the cyclone, 269 relief centres have been set up. Rough seas have triggered panic among residents of Uppada, prompting officials to close the Uppada–Kakinada beach road for public safety. Citizens have also been advised against taking holy dips in waterbodies, a common ritual during the Karthik month. The district has already recorded 324 mm of rainfall, with more heavy rain and strong winds predicted.
In Nellore, District Collector Himanshu Shukla said 144 relief centres have been established. One NDRF and one SDRF team have been put on standby, while a 15-member rescue unit has been deployed in each of the mandals to assist those in distress.
Officials are prioritizing the evacuation of pregnant women and the elderly, with special attention to high-risk pregnancies. With IMD predicting very heavy rain on the night of October 27, a high alert has been declared for 42 coastal villages in nine mandals.
In Krishna and NTR districts, all beaches, including Machilipatnam and Hamsaladeevi, have been closed to tourists. Residents have been urged to avoid holy dips on the first Monday of the Karthik month.
