The Met office has advised the maritime ports to hoist distant warning signal no. 2 as a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm.
In a special weather bulletin, it said the cyclone ‘Titli’ over west-central Bay and adjoining east-central Bay moved slightly westwards over the same area and was centred about 985 km southwest of Chattogram Port at 6pm .
It is likely to intensify furthermore and move in a northwesterly direction.
Sea will remain very rough near the cyclone centre.
All fishing boats and trawlers over north Bay and deep sea have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice.
Meanwhile, India has issued a rain red alert for two on Tuesday as the storm started heading towards the coast Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, reports NDTV.
Authorities in the state of Odisha have alerted all district administrations to prepare for emergency relief work.
The India Meteorological Department has also warned of heavy rain in West Bengal and north Andhra Pradesh.
Cyclone Titli is forecast to continue strengthening as it tracks northwest toward the east coast of India during the next 24 to 48 hours, reports AccuWeather.
Locations at risk for impacts include Visakhapatnam, Brahmapur, Puri, Kharagpur and Kolkata in India; and Dhaka, Khulna and Chittagong in Bangladesh, it said.
“Flash flooding will be the most widespread concern; however, dangerous lightning and damaging winds are expected,” reads the report by the US-based media outlet, which specialises on weather services.
West Bengal and Bangladesh will dodge the strongest winds through Thursday, but heavy rainfall will elevate the risk for flooding, mudslides and travel disruptions, it said.
The storm will turn north and then northeast from Friday into the weekend taking it across Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh with additional downpours, according to AccuWeather.