Cyclone Montha Kills Three, Damages Crops in Andhra Pradesh

Severe cylonic storm Montha in Andhra Pradesh claimed three lives and damaged agricultural crops across 87,000 hectares. It also damaged roads, bridges and culverts and uprooted trees, reported PTI and The Hindu.

"Officials informed (the Chief Minister) that three persons died in the state due to cyclone Montha until now and the Chief Minister directed them to extend a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to their families," said an official press release.

Besides three human deaths, 42 livestock also died during the cyclone.

According to The Hindu, the severe cyclonic storm crossed the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between 11.30 pm on October 28 and 12.30 am on October 29, close to Narsapuram in Andhra Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Wind speeds touched 90 kmph near the Machilipatnam coast as the storm crossed the coast. It gradually weakened into a cyclonic storm by 2.30 am and then into a deep depression by 8.30 am on October 29, it added.

At 5.30 pm, the deep depression over north Andhra Pradesh, south Odisha, south Chhattisgarh and northeast Telangana weakened into a depression over south Chhattisgarh. It is likely to move northwards and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during the next 12 hours, the bulletin at 8.30 pm said. Rain lashed parts of Odisha, Jharkhand, and Telangana on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) with Telangana CM Revanth Reddy direting the entire State administration to remain on high alert.

IMD also warned that coastal flooding and coastal erosion is very likely over coastal districts of north Andhra Pradesh & Yanam.

Agriculture Impacted

Citing a preliminary report, Down To Earth report that standing crops like paddy, cotton, maize and vegetables in large areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were damaged due to heavy rains and winds triggered by the cyclone. Power infrastructure in Kakinada was severely affected following the uprooting of electric poles and roadside trees during the landfall of Montha.

Andhra Pradesh officials estimated damages to be over 43,000 hectares, with around 83,000 farmers affected. While loss to the power sector in the state was pegged at around ₹2,200 crore, reported Down To Earth.

Despite not passing through Odisha, the cyclone had a significant impact on southern Odisha districts such as Gajapati, Ganjam, Korapurt, Rayagada and Kalahandi, which experienced heavy rains. The Goshani block in Gajapati district received 150.5 mm of the most rainfall in the last 24 hours (which ended at 8 am on October 29). Rayagada block in the same district received 119.8 mm, and Patrapur block in Ganjam district received 117.4 mm.

Farmers in Odisha experienced the impact of cyclone when their crops were damaged in the heavy rainfall. “The paddy crop on around two acres of my land was in the harvesting stage. But it is now feared lost due to the heavy rainfall triggered by the cyclone,” Niranjan Mohanty, a farmer in Baiganwadi village of Ganjam district’s Kukudakhandi block told Down To Earth.

IMD Predicts Rainfall in Other Regions

Cyclonic storm Montha crossed the coast off Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, bringing rainfall in several states.

IMD predicted light to moderate rain or thunderstorms are likely at a few or isolated places, with chances of isolated heavy rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal from October 29 to 31.

IMD also predicted light to moderate rainfall in Bihar and Jharkhand on October 30 and 31, and over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim from October 30 to November 1.

The met department also predicted that its impact will not be limited to these states and issued heavy rainfall alerts for Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

(With inputs from PTI.)