Bhubaneswar, Oct. 28 -- Cyclone 'Montha' intensified into a Severe Cyclonic Storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by early Tuesday morning, prompting a red alert for parts of south Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the system is moving north-northwestwards and is expected to make landfall between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada, by tonight.

According to the IMD's latest bulletin, the cyclone moved at a speed of 15 kmph during the past six hours and lay centred at 5:30 am today near latitude 14.7degN and longitude 83.1degE.

At that time, it was positioned about 190 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam, 270 km south-southeast of Kakinada, 340 km south-southwest of Visakhap...