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Cyclonic storm weakens
into depression in AP

The cyclonic storm, which lay centred in the Bay of Bengal about 150 km southeast of the port town of Machilipatnam, has weakened into a depression and is likely to cross the south Andhra coast on Thursday afternoon, according to State Relief Commissioner D C Rosaiah.

He told rediff.com on Thursday morning that "the cyclonic storm is in the process of weakening further and even it is likely that it may dissipate in the sea."

"The weakened storm, now graded as a depression, is likely to move in a north westerly direction and cross the south Andhra coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam, more likely between Kavali and Machilipatnam," Rosaiah said.

"It is no more a cyclonic storm. Even when it crosses the coast, it may cause heavy rains but not strong gales. It is good news. There is no panic situation in coastal areas," he added.

He said district collectors had taken precautionary measures to deal with the situation. The district authorities had moved about 50,000 people from low-lying areas to safer places in four south coastal districts, including 10,000 in Krishna, 12,000 in Nellore, 13,000 in Guntur and 15,000 in Prakasam districts.

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