BHUBANESWAR,OCT 09:Odisha on Tuesday asked the collectors of five of its districts to remain on high alert with Cyclone Titli expected to hit the eastern state from October 10 and trigger heavy rainfall and stormy winds. Odisha on Tuesday asked the collectors of five of its districts to remain on high alert with Cyclone Titli expected to hit the eastern state from October 10 and trigger heavy rainfall and stormy winds.Special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said collectors of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara have also been asked to make necessary arrangements to shift people living in low lying areas as there is a possibility of heavy rainfall from 8:30am on October 10 to October 11.Sethi said fishermen along the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts have been advised not to venture into the sea. He said around 300 motor boats have been arranged to assist in rescue operation over a possible flood situation on October 10 and 11.The depression that formed over the south-east and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a deep depression as it moved further west-northwestwards with a speed of about 10 kmph and is expected to take the form of a cyclonic storm ‘Titli’ during the next 24 hours.Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre’s director HR Biswas said by 5:30 am on Tuesday, the deep depression lay centred over west central Bay of Bengal near 570km southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha and 510km southeast of Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.“It is very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during next 24 hours and is expected to move west-northwestwards for some more time and then northwestwards and cross the coast between Gopalpur of Odisha and Kalingapatnam of adjoining north Andhra Pradesh around the morning of October 11,” said Biswas.In another weather warning, the Joint Typhon Warning Centre of the United States said the potential of the development of ‘Titli’ into a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours was very high.
