The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the system, located about 70 km off Kalingapatnam at 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday, is moving west at roughly 12 kmph and will turn slightly north before reaching the coast. Because its sustained winds are forecast at 52‑61 km/h, the IMD classifies it as a deep depression rather than a named cyclone.
Officials at the Cyclone Warning Centre in Visakhapatnam confirmed the system will likely cross the shoreline at its current intensity. Once ashore, the depression is expected to weaken further, becoming a depression by Thursday evening, persisting through Friday, and dissipating into a low‑pressure area by Saturday morning.
The coastal belt will feel the impact before the system fully moves inland. The IMD warned of gusts between 55 and 75 km/h on Wednesday and Thursday, prompting a fishing ban that will remain in effect until Friday, September 25.
Rainfall has already been heavy. In the 24‑hour period ending 8.30 a.m. Wednesday, Odisha’s Koraput district recorded 230 mm at Simliguda and 162 mm at Jeypore. In Andhra Pradesh, Palasa in Srikakulam district logged 141 mm, the state’s highest total, while Sompeta, Kalingapatnam and Tekkali each received more than 110 mm. Visakhapatnam city measured 90 mm.
Statewide, 173 of 2,218 automatic rain gauges reported heavy rain (64.5 mm or more) in the past day, all in the northern districts. Srikakulam’s 70 stations averaged 76 mm, with 42 stations recording heavy rain; Visakhapatnam’s 104 stations averaged 69 mm.
The downpours have already caused localized flooding. Tanks and streams overflowed around Palasa, low‑lying roads became water‑logged, and several trees fell in Visakhapatnam, blocking roads near MVP Colony and Dr. L. Bullayya College. A boundary wall at Google’s data centre in Mudasarlova also collapsed, though no injuries were reported.
Red alerts remain in force until Thursday morning for Srikakulam, Parvathipuram Manyam, Vizianagaram, Alluri Sitharama Raju and Anakapalli districts, with orange alerts for Visakhapatnam. Alerts will be downgraded to orange on Thursday and to yellow from Friday.
Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan, who also heads the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development portfolio, ordered district officials to stay on high alert, prepare for damaged culverts and breached rural roads, and set up relief camps with food, clean water and medicines where flooding is severe. He also directed coordination among revenue, police, electricity, health and animal husbandry departments to ensure uninterrupted power and livestock care.