Cyclone Hudhud crosses Vizag coast

Three people die in rain-related incidents; power, communication networks affected, severe damage to crops

Leaving behind a trail of destruction, including uprooting of trees and damaging power lines besides claiming three lives in various rain-related incidents in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh, Cyclone Hudhud crossed the coast at Pudimadaka village, about 50 kilometre from Visakhapatnam, Sunday afternoon.

“The cyclone winds were gusting up to 200 kmph, causing uprooting of trees and damaging electrical poles and cellular towers. Electrical and communication networks have been affected on account of this,” IYR Krishna Rao, chief secretary and commissioner (disaster management), Andhra Pradesh, told mediapersons here today.

Normal life was completely thrown out of gear as winds with a speed of between 180 kmph and 200 kmph battered Visakhapatnam and its neighbouring Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts after Cyclone Hudhud made a landfall  at around 2 pm today.

Hudhud, with strong winds, high tides and heavy rains, is considered to be the most disastrous cyclone that the port city had ever seen. “The worst is over. However, electricity and communication networks are expected to be restored only after two to three days,” an AP government official said.

Rao said people of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts had been requested to stay at their homes or they could shift to cyclone relief shelters.

Officials said the intensity of Cyclone Hudhud in Vizag, Srikakulam, East Godavari and Vizianagaram districts was expected to be weakened by today evening, before moving northwestwards across south interior Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

The Andhra Pradesh government had identified 356 villages in 59 mandals of the four districts – Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and East Godavari – as cyclone-prone and had opened over 300 relief camps.

At a review meeting held at the Secretariat here today, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said his government had taken measures to prevent loss of life and provide quick relief to people affected by Cyclone Hudhud.

“In spite of our efforts to prevent loss of life, three persons died in rain-related incidents. However, our administration had minimised the loss to the maximum extent,” Naidu said, adding he would visit the cyclone-affected districts at the earliest.

Stating that the communication networks had been severely damaged in Vizag,  the chief minister said telecom operators were asked to restore services as early as possible.

Briefing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the condition over phone today, Naidu urged him to declare Hudhud as a national calamity. “The Centre has assured us of all possible help.  I had already written a letter to the Prime Minster to declare Hudhud as a national calamity, requesting him to extend an adhoc package relief of Rs 2,000 crore,” he said.

Andhra Pradesh has developed a mobile app to provide information to the people, assess the damage and provide relief. Besides, it has set up a government control room with toll-free numbers 180042500002 (Vizag), 18004256625 (Srikakulam) and 1070 for Vizianagaram.

According the chief minister, Cyclone Hudhud had caused severe damage to paddy, coconut and cashew in the affected districts. “The extent of the damages, however, are yet to be assessed,” he said.

Stating that his government was using space technology with the help of Isro and  National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in disaster management, Naidu urged the officials to use social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and search engines like Google to spread the message.

“The AP government has created a Facebook page called AP Disaster Management. The government has created ‘HudhudAP’ to reach out to people and get information from them on Twitter and Facebook. It is also using Whatsapp extensively,” he said.

Meanwhile, the South Central Railway (SCR) has cancelled about 62 trains in north coastal Andhra and diverted 51 trains to various other routes.