The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal was moving toward the Andhra Pradesh‑Odisha coast at about 5 km per hour, positioning it 150 km south of Gopalpur and 240 km south‑southwest of Puri at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Rainfall totals surged, with Semiliguda in Koraput district recording 230 mm and nearby Jeypore logging 161 mm in the preceding 24 hours, while more than 16 locations across the state logged over 10 cm of rain, an IMD official said.
Akshay Sunil Agarwal, the collector of landslide‑prone Gajapati district, confirmed that 3,500 people—including pregnant women and the elderly—had been shifted to cyclone centres and temporary relief camps, where cooked meals are being provided, and that the district administration is monitoring 140 identified landslide‑susceptible zones.
Local officials reported water seeping into homes, trees being uprooted, houses collapsing and muddy runoff flowing down hills in Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Nabarangpur districts.
The IMD issued a red alert for Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts, forecasting more than 20 cm of rain within 24 hours, and an additional red warning for Nabarangpur on Thursday. An orange warning—indicating 12‑20 cm of rain—covers several other southern districts.
Wind speeds are expected to reach 55‑65 km/h through Thursday evening, prompting the weather office to advise fishermen to stay ashore until the threat subsides.
In response, the Odisha government mobilised 33 teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, ordered the closure of schools and Anganwadi centres in ten districts, cancelled leave for government officials, and instructed hospitals in vulnerable areas to stock emergency medicines while relocating pregnant women from low‑lying zones to community health centres.