Cyclone Laila slams into Andhra Pradesh, Seven dead

Hyderabad, May 20 (PTI) Seven persons were killed as
cyclone Laila Thursday struck the coast of the southern Indian
state of Andhra Pradesh, inundating large areas, snapping
electricity and communication links and disrupting traffic.
Three persons were killed in Sri Potti Sriramulu
Nellore district, two in East Godavari and one each in Krishna
and Vizianagaram districts, according to the state Disaster
Management authorities, adding two persons were missing in
Krishna district.
As the cyclone made landfall near Baptla in Guntur
this evening, heavy downpour was witnessed in the district and
in Prakasam with the latter suffering maximum damage.
Ongole town, the headquarters of Prakasam district,
remained waterlogged as it received 34 cm rainfall in 12 hours
since Wednesday night.
The Indian government directed the National Disaster
Response Force teams to rush to Ongole to step up rescue and
relief operations. However, official sources here said that
Air Force helicopters could not take part in rescue operations
because of the inclement weather.
Communication links were cut off while road transport
was also badly affected in the district. Many rivulets and
streams in the district were overflowing hampering traffic
movement.
As electricity lines and transformers were damaged in
the cyclonic storm, hundreds of villages were plunged into
darkness besides 11 towns.
More than 150 head of cattle died in rain-related
incidents in coastal districts. Harvested paddy in Krishna,
Guntur and West Godavari districts was damaged badly leaving
farmers distraught.
Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and West
Godavari districts reported scattered rainfall, moderate rain
was witnessed in East Godavari, Krishna and Nellore.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah reviewed the situation with
ministers and officials this evening and directed the
authorities not to lower guard till the cyclone warning has
been fully withdrawn.
The movement of 51 trains was affected with South
Central Railway (SCR) cancelling two of them. Others were
either diverted or stopped enroute, officials said.
Even after landfall, coastal Andhra Pradesh is
expected to receive heavy to very heavy rains for the next 12
hours, according to the Met department. PTI DBV
RDM


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