India’s East coast is unlikely to face the fury of cyclonic storm ‘Jawad’ which has weakened into a deep depression before reaching the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast but thousands of people living along the sea have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, officials said on Saturday. However, a teenager was killed in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh after a tree came crashing down on him in heavy rain under the influence of the tempest. People of Odisha, already battered by cyclone ‘Gulab’ and ‘Yaas’ in the last one year, heaved a sigh of relief as the storm began ebbing away while still rolling over the sea. There was no rain in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar and coastal districts since noon, prompting the authorities to stop evacuation. “About 1,500 people have been evacuated, including 300 pregnant women. We have stopped evacuation now,” an official said.

 

“The system is likely to hit the Puri coast (Odisha) as a deep depression after getting weakened inside the sea during its journey to the shore,” Weather Scientist US Dash of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said on Saturday morning. However, weatherman said in the evening that the deep depression will further weaken and Puri, where the cyclone was expected to make landfall, will witness rainfall and wind at 50-60 kmph Sunday afternoon. A teenager was killed as heavy rain, under the influence of the cyclonic storm, lashed Srikakulam district on Saturday despite the north coastal Andhra Pradesh breathing easy as the tempest weakened. In Vajrapukothuru mandal, heavy winds uprooted a coconut tree that fell on a teenager Gorakala Indu (16), killing him instantly. Several relief centres have been opened to lodge people from vulnerable areas, the Andhra Pradesh Government said. The sky was overcast in most places in Andhra Pradesh with some receiving rain.