Very 'severe cyclonic' storm forms over Bay of Bengal

BHUBANESWAR: A very severe cyclonic storm has formed over south-east Bay of Bengal and there is possibility of it moving towards Orissa, the Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) said on Tuesday.

The severe cyclonic storm lay over the south-east Bay about 300 km west of Port Blair yesterday and had intensified into a very cyclonic storm at 1.30 am last night, they said.

It now lays centred about 950 km south south-east of Paradip at 8.30 am on Tuesday.

"The system is likely to intensify further and move in a north-western direction," CWC director Sarat Sahu said.

The system was moving very slowly and had moved about 50-60 km in the last 14 hours, he said adding, "If it moves slowly, it will gather more intensity."

The Orissa government has asked all coastal districts to remain alert, though CWC did not issue any warning to the state till now as the system was far away from the state's coast.