Bhubaneswar: Cyclone 'Titli' over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a severe cyclonic storm Wednesday and is very likely to make landfall between Gopalpur coast in Odisha and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by 5.30 am tomorrow morning, , the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Under its impact, several parts of Odisha will receive very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, the IMD added.

The cyclonic storm is likely to make a landfall in the morning at a wind speed of 140 to 150 km per hour and gusting up to 165 km per pour in south coastal Odisha. Similarly, in north coastal Odisha, wind speed will be around 70 to 80 km per hour and gusting up to 90 km per hour, it said. "Titli moved with a speed of about 10 kmph and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and lay centred over west-central Bay of Bengal, about 370 km south-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha," the IMD said in a bulletin.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi informed that xix teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been sent to Gajapati, Puri, Kendrapara, Nayagarh, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts and seven Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) units have been deployed in Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Cuttack, Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Kalahandi districts.

Meanwhile, the districts like Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri and Jgathsinghpur were put on high alert as these districts are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours, the IMD said.

Besides, orange warning and heavy to very heavy rainfall alert has been issued at isolated places in Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak and Balasore districts till the morning of October 11.

All the 879 cyclone and flood shelters have also been kept in a state of preparedness, he said. The state has put the districts on high alert and asked the authorities to evacuate those living in low-lying areas and in 'kutchha' houses along the coast.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi said the cyclone was likely to make a landfall early on Thursday morning. "Zero casualty is part of the state government's disaster management policy. Stocking of food and shifting of people to cyclone shelters are also included in the policy," Padhi said.