NEW DELHI, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System has issued a red alert for India as Tropical Cyclone Hudhud approaches. <\/p>\n
The alert, issued Wednesday, is in effect until Friday. With landfall expected over the weekend, a new alert will likely be issued. <\/p>\n
India's port city of Visakhapatnam, home to two million people, is in the direct line of Tropical Cyclone Hudhud. <\/p>\n
District officials along the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh are bracing for the storm, and have issued a high alert for residents. <\/p>\n
\"Open relief camps wherever needed and move people from vulnerable areas to safety. Keep essential commodities ready for the evacuees,\" Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao directed officials in a video-conference Thursday. <\/p>\n
As residents prepare for the storm, the Times of India reports \"the prices of vegetables have increased by 40 percent since Monday\" and \"some items like candles have vanished from shops.\" <\/p>\n
According to GDACS, the cyclone has a maximum wind speed of 185 km\/hour and could impact 9.4 million people in its path. \"Tropical Cyclone Hudhud-14 can have a high humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed and the affected population and their vulnerability.\" <\/p>\n
The Weather Channel reported Thursday the cyclone, also known by its alphanumeric designation 03B, \"is strengthening as it churns over the Bay of Bengal in the northern Indian Ocean basin.\" <\/p>\n
Once it makes landfall possibly early Sunday, the U.S. Naval Observatory's Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Hudhud to dissipate and become the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane. <\/p>\n
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Tropical Cyclone Hudhud heads for India; red alert issued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW DELHI, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System has issued a red alert for India as Tropical Cyclone Hudhud approaches. The alert, issued Wednesday, is in effect until Friday. Continue reading