Cyclone Montha slams India's southern coast

NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (AFP): Heavy rain and gusty winds lashed India's southern coast as Cyclone Montha started to make landfall on Tuesday, officials said, disrupting flights and triggering waterlogging in low-lying areas.

Cyclones, the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific, are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.

"Latest observations indicate that the landfall process has commenced," India's national weather bureau said in a statement.

It said Montha would cross the coast of the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh over several hours as a "severe cyclonic storm", with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kilometres (55-60 miles) per hour.

Nara Lokesh, a minister in the state government, said that some four million people may be affected.

Heavy rain earlier in the day flooded some areas in Andhra Pradesh's coastal districts.