Fact Check: This Asani Cyclone Pic From Machilipatnam is A Year Old

AMARAVATI: As Cyclone Asani made landfall between Machilipatnam and Narsapuram in Andhra Pradesh late on Wednesday night after weakening into a deep depression, a video and images of a beach overcast with heavy clouds were being shown as a Cyclone Asani effect.

#AsaniCyclone #Asani #cyclone Scene at #Machilipatnam beach. Very fearsome and scary. Power of Nature #Andhrapradesh pic.twitter.com/9VDBuselFg

— Syed Akbar (@SyedAkbarTOI) May 11, 2022

However, the images and video were stated to be a year old and as per a fact check by a reporter from The Hindu stated that it was incorrect. In his tweet, he mentions that the same image and video have been shared over five times over the past year in Bandar, Kalingapatnam, Bheemili, and now Machilipatnam where the depression was stated to lying stationary. The video was being circulated again as that of that being 'Very fearsome and scary', 'the power of nature' and captioned as the Machlipatnam beach.  

Check out  the Fact Check here by Tharun Boda: 

Fakenews is super fast & ppl go crazy. This video has been shared today as the one frm Bandar in AP. 6 months ago it was at Kalingapatnam & 10 months ago at Bheemili. Now someone posted it as video shot in Penumaka (Mangalagiri) which doesn't even have a beach 🫠 #CycloneAsani pic.twitter.com/EzCwaXF7OU

— Tharun Boda (@tharunboda) May 11, 2022

The original source of the video was actually posted by the Andhra Pradesh Weatherman on June 21st and the location was at Kalingapatnam beach in the Srikakulam district. The AP Weatherman shared the information in reply to the above video that this was not Cyclone Asani.

Check the AP Weatherman's tweet here: 

This is not #CycloneAsani. This Video i have posted in my Instagram on June 21st 2021. Location - Kalingapatnam, Srikakulam pic.twitter.com/ig6dYkxE2k

— Andhra Pradesh Weatherman (@APWeatherman96) May 11, 2022

Cyclone Asani Updates

Cyclone Asani lay centered some 20-30 km off Machilipatnam coast in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday and made landfall on Thursday morning. At 8 AM the IMD authorities in a tweet updated that the deep depression over coastal Andhra Pradesh remained practically stationary during the last 6 hours and weakened into a depression over the same region. It is likely to hover around the same region and weaken further into a Well Marked Low Pressure Area during the next 12 hours.

Deep Depression over coastal Andhra Pradesh remained practically stationary during last 6 hours and weakened into a Depression over the same region. It is likely to hover around the same region and weaken further into a Well Marked Low Pressure Area during next 12 hours. pic.twitter.com/sErfRza49x

— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 12, 2022

Many districts along the Bay of Bengal coast witnessed moderate to heavy rainfall.  State Disaster Management Authority sources said the cyclone threat has now “almost subsided” but the alert would continue for at least the next 24 hours.

- Rainfall ranging from 1 cm to 6.5 cm was recorded at different places in the coastal districts from Srikakulam to Bapatla and Ongole since Tuesday, authorities here said.

- Tirupati and SPS Nellore districts also received rain on Wednesday.

- Rains and heavy winds caused a lot of damage to crops in Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and other districts. Officials said enumeration of the losses would be taken up after the storm abated.

- Flight services to and from Visakhapatnam airport have been cancelled for the second day.

 -In Vijayawada airport as well, many flight services were cancelled for the day because of the cyclone.

- Also, the South Central Railway cancelled several trains running on the Vijayawada-Howrah route and also the Vijayawada-Gudur section due to Asani impact.

Also Read: Cyclone Asani: AP Coastal Districts Control Room Numbers List