Asani, which weakened from a severe cyclone into a cyclone in Bay of Bengal on Wednesday afternoon and lay 40 km southeast of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, is expected to cross the coast near Antarvedi in a few hours, the State Disaster Management Authority said.

By late evening, Asani is expected to weaken further into a depression and drift back into the sea close to Yanam, the SDMA said.

While moderate to heavy rains were likely to continue in the coastal districts, winds with a speed ranging from 60-80 kmph were forecast along the Bay of Bengal coast.

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

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy conducted a videoconference with Collectors of coastal districts and reviewed the situation.

He asked the administration to be on high alert and fully geared up to meet any emergency. Focus should be on preventing loss of lives, he added.

Meanwhile, several parts of Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for heavy rain as severe cyclone Asani weakened to a cyclonic storm on Wednesday, barreling towards north coastal Andhra Pradesh, packing wind speed of 85 km per hour, the Met Department said.

The weather system is likely to further lose steam and turn into a depression by Thursday morning, it said.

It is very likely to move nearly northwards for next few hour and recurve slowly north-northeastwards along Narsapur, Yanam, Kakinada, Tuni and Visakhapatnam coasts during noon to evening on Wednesday, and emerge into west central Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh coasts by night, the India Meteorological Department said in a bulletin.

The Odisha government has put five southern districts - Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam and Gajapati - on high alert, as they are likely to be affected by the cyclone that may touch land mass between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, about 200 km from Odisha.

Light to moderate rain or thundershower is likely to occur in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Khurda, Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the Regional Meteorological Centre said.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said 60 ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) units and 132 teams of fire service personnel have been deployed in the state, considering the emerging situation.