India: Cyclone Hudhud Likely to Hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh by 12 October Exactly One Year After Phailin Devastation

A possible cyclonic storm 'Hudhud' is brewing up in the Bay of Bengal threatening to hit the Indian states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

The threat generated as a low pressure area over the Tenasserim Coast and adjoining Andaman Sea has concentrated into a depression and is moving towards the south coast of Odisha.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the cyclonic storm 'Hudhud' is currently 1,380 km Southeast of Gopalpur in Ganjam district, the same place where cyclone Phailin made landfall last year.

"The low pressure has already taken the shape of a depression and if it further precipitates into a cyclone, then it would be named Hudhud as per the nomenclature coding practice of tropical cyclones," a Met department official told the Business Standard.

"Maybe we will be able to predict the wind speed, time and location of landfall of the cyclone in the next 24 to 48 hours, after it moves to within 250 km of the coastline," he added.

Hudhud is expected to make landfall on 12 October, exactly a year after Cyclone Phailin wrecked havoc on the people living in northern Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha.

"This year by the grace of God the paddy yielding is good, but the looming rains or heavy winds will not just hit our crops, it will destroy all our hard work and money. We feel helpless and are praying to God to save us from the upcoming natural disaster," Dhananjay, a local entrepreneur from Odisha who experienced the bitterness of last year's Phailin devastation, told IBTimes UK.

"It is now crossing Andaman & Nicobar Islands close to Long Island. Thereafter, the system would continue to move west-northwestwards, intensified further into a severe cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours, subsequently into a very severe cyclonic storm and cross north Andhra Pradesh & adjoining Odisha coast between Visakhapatnam & Gopalpur by 12 October, 2014 noon," the monsoon watch bulletin of the Indian met department reads.

According to a Times of India report, Hudhud will be the first cyclonic storm of the year over the Bay of Bengal in the 2014 north Indian Ocean cyclone season.

The Indian Ocean cyclone season is an annual cycle of tropical cyclone formations that happen over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

"We expect the cyclone to form on October 8 and make landfall in the Odisha coast by October 12. Some parts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam are likely to receive good amount of rainfall during the landfall period," K Seetharam, the director of IMD Hyderabad Centre told the website.

Last year, the Odisha government had garnered accolades for efficiently tackling the super cyclone and minimising casualties, becoming an example of disaster management preparedness for other countries suffering a similar fate.