Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) director K Ramachandra Rao told TOI that they could not predict the impact of the cyclone on the coastal districts

VISAKHAPATNAM: The cyclonic storm Mahasen, which had formed in the southeast Bay of Bengal, moved northwestwards at a speed of 15 kmph and lay centered about 1,150 km southeast of Chennai on Saturday.

Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) director K Ramachandra Rao told TOI that they could not predict the impact of the cyclone on the coastal districts, including Visakhapatnam, as it was led centered far away from the southeast of Chennai as on Saturday night. "We can predict anything about the effect of the cyclone once it gets closer to either Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu," Rao said.

While fisherfolk of Nicobar islands have been advised not to venture into the sea during the next 48 hours, there has been no communication to the fisherfolk in coastal districts, including Visakhapatnam, so far. "We have received no communication from our superiors to issue the cyclone warning alert to fisherfolk in Visakhapatnam district," department of fisheries joint director P Koteswara Rao told TOI. The system would intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm during next 24 hours till May 16, according to the latest bulletin issued by the CWC's Visakhapatnam center on Saturday. It would move initially northwestwards during the next 36 hours and recurve northeastwards towards the Bangladesh coast.