India issues alert over severe cyclone in Bay of Bengal

A severe cyclone over the Bay of Bengal has prompted an alert in India's southeastern coastal state of Orissa, where it is forecast to make landfall, weather officials said yesterday.
The weather "over southeast Bay of Bengal has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and is likely to intensify further and move in a northwesterly direction," the Orissa weather office said yesterday.
The storm was located around the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The weather office did not say when it would make landfall.
But emergency preparations were under way in Orissa, which was devastated by a super-cyclone in 1999 that killed at least 10,000 people and caused severe damage to homes, businesses and farmers, an official said.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and have already initiated measures to minimise any damage," Orissa special relief commissioner N.K. Sundaray told reporters.
"People in low-lying areas have been warned to move to safer places and fishermen have been asked to stay on land for the next three days," he said.
Cyclones are frequent in October and November in the Bay of Bengal.