Major cyclone Lehar to hit southern India

The major cyclone Lehar will hit the coastal areas of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, government sources said Wednesday. The sources said the local administration has already sounded alert in the 9 coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, adding, the severe cyclone would make landfall near Machilipatnam area by Wednesday. The cyclone would result in heavy to very heavy rainfall in majority of the coastal areas isolated extremely heavy falls on 28th November, sources said, adding, the wind speed would reach to the intensity of gutsy 170 kmph at the time of land fall. The cyclone would hit the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh barely after five days cyclone Helen made a landfall in the same area leaving six dead and trail of large scale destruction. The local administration reviewed the situation in the wake of storm and evacuated around two hundred thousand people from the seven districts of Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam to safe places, sources added. The sources informed that 33 National Disaster Response Force teams, four columns of Army and 450 members of State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into relief and rescue operations