Cyclone Hudhud Centre is Crossing Andhra Pradesh Coast: 10 Developments

After a brief spell of no rain and lower wind speed as the eye of the cyclone passed over Visakhapatnam or Vizag as it's known, wind speed has picked up again and it is raining as the tail of the cyclone now crosses into land. 

The top windspeed as the cyclone hit land has been 195 kmph along the Andhra Pradesh coast, but it will drop to half in the next six hours, said the met department. Northern coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh are being whipped by heavy rain.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu appealed to people to stay indoors. "I appeal to people in coastal districts to stay indoors even 6 hours after the cyclone's effect. Your safety is my concern," he tweeted.

Vizag, which has a huge naval base, will be hit the hardest, the met department said and rescue and relief operations there will be crucial in the next few hours. Aircraft should be able to fly over the area tomorrow morning, said officials.

Coastal Odisha is seeing slower winds, but the southern part of the area will see heavy rain, said the met department. 

Press Trust of India reports three people were killed in separate accidents caused by heavy rain in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Strong wind and rains were reported in Vizag, where power lines have snapped, trees have been uprooted, and some roads are blocked now.

At least 400,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha

The evacuation effort was comparable in scale to the one that preceded Cyclone Phailin exactly a year ago, and which was credited with minimising fatalities to 53.

The Indian Ocean is a cyclone hot spot. Of the 35 deadliest storms in recorded history, 27 have come through the Bay of Bengal - and have landed in either India or Bangladesh.