The cyclone Nargis with a core of winds speeding at 70 km per hour may hit the eastern coast within the next 12 hours.

The meteorological official said, “Nargis, now centred around 350 km southeast of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal, is moving in a north westerly direction slowly. It can cross the coast anywhere between Nagappattinam in Tamil Nadu and Ongole in Andhra Pradesh within the next 12 hours”.

The official said, “These rain-bearing winds may result in the Bay of Bengal turning choppy & heavy rain lashing the coastal areas”.