Signs of cyclone Laila re-emerging in north Bay of Bengal: IMD

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Forecasters Thursday said
cyclone 'Laila' has weakened but the danger was not over yet
as there were signs of it re-emerging in northern Bay of
Bengal over the weekend after wreaking havoc in coastal Andhra
Pradesh.
"After landfall in coastal Andhra Pradesh near
Bapatla, the cyclone track shows that it will move along
coastal Andhra and re-emerge in north Bay," Ajit Tyagi,
Director General India Meteorological Department (IMD) told
reporters here.
He said there were chances of the cyclone intensifying
further and moving towards north Andhra Pradesh, South Orissa
and then towards Bangladesh.
Tyagi rejected suggestions of the cyclone intensifying
into a super cyclone similar to the one that struck Orissa in
1999.
A senior scientist involved in tracking the cyclone
said that the strong upper winds at an altitude of around 10
km were steering 'Laila' in a northwesterly to northerly
direction.
He said that there have been precedents of cyclones
re-emerging after landfall and the movement of 'Laila' was not
an unusual one.
The weather office has warned of extensive damage to
thatch roofs and huts, and to power and communication lines
due to uprooting of large avenue trees in Nellore, Prakasham,
Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari and Vishakhapatnam
districts.
Even after landfall, coastal Andhra Pradesh is
expected to receive heavy to very heavy rains for the next 12
hours.
Asked whether the cyclone would affect the onset of
monsoon over Kerala, Tyagi said that the IMD stood by its
forecast of the annual rains reaching Kerala by May 30.
"Under the influence of this system, widespread
rainfall with scattered heavy to very heavy falls and isolated
extremely heavy falls (25 cms or more) is likely over coastal
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the next two days," an IMD
advisory said.
Gale force wind with speed reaching 100-110 kmph
gusting to 120 kmph likely along and off Andhra Pradesh coast
is expected, it said.
The weather office has said that sea condition will be
very high along and off Andhra Pradesh coast during next 12
hours and fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea
off this coast.
Tyagi said storm surges of upto 1.5 meters are
expected as a result of the cyclone. PTI