Cyclone spares Sri Lanka’s northeast, heads to India

A marginal cyclone formed by a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has changed its course sparing Sri Lanka’s northeast and is heading towards India, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

Sri Lanka has lifted an evacuation order it issued earlier for the people residing within 500 meters from the north east coastal belt.

The Meteorological Department of Sri Lanka predicted a marginal cyclonic situation in the Northern areas as the depression over southwest Bay of Bengal is about 100 km east of Mullaitivu and moving northwest with wind speeds of up to 80 kilometers an hour. It was expected to enter the island near Mullativu coast around 2:00 am Tuesday. The storm surge has resulted in waves 10 feet higher than normal in some places, the Director of DMC Sarath Lal Kumara has told AFP. However, there were no casualties reported.

The government issued the evacuation order for the sparsely populated coastal region as a precaution to avoid any casualties.