Cyclone Hudhud makes landfall
Cyclone Hudhud, which has been tracking northwest over the Bay of Bengal, made landfall on October 12 near the third largest city on India’s east coast.
According to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide, the cyclone made landfall near the city of Visakhapatnam in the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh. Estimated population in the greater metropolitan area exceeds 2 million as of 2011.
AIR forecast that rain fall will be extremely heavy, with some regions possibly receiving between 6.5 cm and even more than 24.5 cm. This may result in inland flooding as rivers swell to dangerous levels.
Storm surge is expected in amounts of 0.5 to 1.0 meters above astronomical tide for the areas of Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh.
“A year ago, Cyclone Phailin—the strongest storm to strike India in more than a decade—struck the coast of Odisha, north of Hudhud’s landfall. In advance of that storm's arrival, India conducted its largest storm evacuation ever—more than 900,000—which has been credited for keeping the death toll to just 25. Hudhud is not as strong as Phailin, but it is making landfall in a more densely populated stretch of the coast," said Anna Trevino, scientist at AIR Worldwide.
