A storm surge, or tidal wave, of 1-1.5 metres is expected to inundate the low-lying areas of south coastal Andhra Pradesh and the peak storm surge will be over the Bapatla and Krishna districts. The cyclone is expected to make landfall as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 km per hour, gusting to 110 km per hour.
The Andhra Pradesh government has issued an alert for eight districts – Tirupati, Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema and Kakinada. In Puducherry, Section 144 has been imposed in the coastal areas, restricting movement there, until 6 pm.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials to treat the storm as a major challenge to avoid loss of life and property as the winds are expected to blow gales reaching speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour.
Mr Reddy said that special officers have been appointed for all cyclone-affected districts, besides releasing Rs 2 crore each for rescue and relief work. People from low-lying areas have been evacuated and over 300 relief camps have been set up to accommodate them.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry on Monday and assured them of all necessary help from the Centre. The minister said adequate deployment of National Disaster Response Force personnel has already been made and additional teams are ready for further assistance.
The Director General of the India Meteorological Department, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra warned that cities and towns along coastal Andhra Pradesh will see extremely heavy, and even exceptionally heavy (30-40 cm), rainfall.
A severe cyclonic storm has the potential to cause uprooting of small and medium trees, large-scale damage to hutments and mud houses, and partial damage to telephone and electric poles
Rain has stopped in Chennai, but most parts of the city remains submerged, with heavy inundation in low-lying areas. The weather office said that Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are expected to experience light to moderate rainfall in most places today.
The Chennai airport will remain closed till 9 am today. Schools, colleges, and government offices remain shut and the government has appealed to private companies to let employees work from home. Videos shows flights grounded as rainwater entered the airport runway, prompting authorities to order its closure till 11 pm tonight.
The Odisha government has also deployed rescue teams in the southern districts as a precautionary measure. All the coastal and southern district collectors have been out on alert and fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea as sea conditions remain tough. 

After spearheading the separate Telangana movement and leading his party to significant victories since 2014, a third term in office eluded Bharat Rasthra Samithi supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, who lost to the Congress in the legislative assembly polls. This was BRS’ first defeat since the birth of Telangana in 2014.

The Congress won 64 seats in the 119-member Telangana assembly, while the BRS got only 39.

A week, it is said, is a long time in politics and, by that yardstick, nine-and-a-half years is an aeon. That is the anti-incumbency challenge that the BRS could not overcome.

In an extensive poll campaign, the party tried to highlight all its welfare schemes for the poor. However, the implementation of some schemes had given an inordinate amount of power to MLAs to decide on the distribution of funds, leading to allegations of discrimination as well as corruption.

KCR’s son and IT minister KT Rama Rao insisted that job creation and GDP growth in Telangana have been the highest in the country, but many sections complained that getting employment has been an issue.

Ahead of the elections, KTR had advised the Chief Minister to bring in fresh faces and not give tickets to nearly 30 MLAs, against whom anti-incumbency seemed to be building.

KCR did warn these MLAs to buck up and improve their performance but ended up giving poll tickets to all of them. The result: most of these seats went to the Congress.

On the other hand, 9 out of the 10 leaders who represented BRS for the first time emerged victorious.

To make a comeback, the party will also have to find a way to connect to the rural voters. Nearly half of the BRS’ 39 seats came from the Hyderabad region, where KTR’s pitch for development and IT parks seemed to resonate with the voters.

Congress staked claim to form the government on the night of the counting itself as experts say the party has several factions and is jittery despite winning a clear majority. The Telangana result was the only silver lining in an otherwise dismal day for the Congress, which lost in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and failed to dislodge the BJP from Madhya Pradesh as well.

Shah Rukh Khan is currently making headlines for his upcoming film Dunki. Glimpses from the Rajkumar Hirani directorial including the trailer that arrived today in the form of Dunki Drop 4, have been garnering attention. Amidst the anticipation, SRK was clicked at the airport.