Cyclone 'Titli' over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on Wednesday and is moving towards the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast, triggering rainfall in several parts of Odisha, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

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How was cyclone 'Titli' formed?

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Titli started out as low depression in the Bay of Bengal and gradually intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and is likely to turn very severe cyclonic storm in the next 18 hours.

Why this cyclone is named 'Titli'?

Cyclone Titli got its name from Pakistan. "Titli" is a Hindi word, which means "butterfly".

Eight countries in the North Indian Ocean region — Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand — have contributed a set of names which are assigned sequentially for whenever a cyclonic storm develops. They came up with a list of 64 names — eight names from each country — for upcoming cyclones.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a Geneva-based agency of the United Nations (UN), maintains the lists of given names.

How will this impact Odisha?

In its fastidious preparedness for Cyclone Titli, the state government has geared up to face the situation setting a target of “zero casualty.”

The Odisha government today began immediate evacuation of people in five coastal districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Kendrapara and Jagtsinghpur. So far, about 1,000 people have been shifted to safer place. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel have already been positioned in vulnerable districts.

The government has ordered closure of all schools, colleges and anganwadi centres on Thursday and Friday in view of the IMD's forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall across the state. The college students union elections, earlier scheduled to be held on Thursday, have also been cancelled.

The IMD advised total suspension of fishing operations and shifting of coastal hutment dwellers to safe places. Fishermen along the Odisha coast, and central and north Bay of Bengal were advised not to venture into sea till Friday.

Current situation

Coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are to bear the brunt of the cyclone, which has now become a Category 3 storm, as it is going to make a landfall between Gopalpur, a coastal town in the southern part of Odisha and Kalingapatanam in Andhra Pradesh early Thursday morning at a wind speed of 145 kmph.

Cyclones in the past

In October 1999, the deadliest of cyclones, ‘Super Cyclone’ hit the coast of Odisha with a wind speed of 300 kmph disrupting the lives of 20 million in Odisha. It led to the loss of 15,000 lives and Rs 6,243.96 crore in revenue.

In 2013, Cyclone ‘Phailin’ made landfall in the coastal Odisha with a wind speed of 185 kmph, and was considered as the second deadliest cyclone that had hit the eastern state with hardly any casualties.

First Published:Oct 10, 2018 2:37 PM IST