Damaged infrastructure in cyclone-hit Visakhapatnam will be restored to its best: Andhra CM Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said Friday that cyclone-ravaged Visakhapatnam would experience normalcy soon and added that its battered infrastructure would be restored.

Cyclone Hudhud had smashed the coastline of Andhra Pradesh and the eastern state of Odisha on October 12, killing at least 25 people. It ripped apart tens of thousands of mud-and-thatch homes, flattened rice, banana and sugarcane plantations and snapped electricity lines.

Naidu had earlier on Thursday (October 16) visited the cyclone-hit areas to take stock of the situation.

Addressing a news conference in Visakhapatnam, Naidu said, "Total power was disturbed and also roads were totally blocked, and also communication sector totally disrupted. We are bringing everything normal one by one. Fifth day we are able to reach near only good standard. And also by tomorrow evening 80 percent power supply and 90 percent communication and also 90 to 100 percent normalcy in drinking water we are bringing. And at the same time, all the people were given camp for relief and also whatever losses they incurred, we are going to give relief and also we are going for rehabilitation now."

In Visakhapatnam, home to two million people, residents can be seen standing in long queues outside few ATMs, petrol stations and stores that reopened.

The high demand for items such as milk and drinking water has prompted some traders to hike up prices, sparking fears of shortages and some looting among cyclone survivors.

At some places mobs climbed into a government relief truck filled with food and water packets, scrambling to offload the heavy sacks, as policemen beat them with batons.

Naidu also thanked the central government for their cooperation. He said the Prime Minister has also appreciated the restoration work done by the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also announced 10 billion rupees ($160 million) to Andhra Pradesh state for aid and reconstruction.

"We are confident again Visakhapatnam will be the best city, we will make it with the course of time. By taking this cyclone, we want to do better job. The pace given 250 km speed or 300 km speed the building has to sustain, even infrastructure has to sustain as to where we are concentrating. I am confident we will restore everything and also very soon we will bring normalcy. I appreciate people of Visakhapatnam, they are very honest and very service-oriented and also they are supporting like anything," Naidu added.

Naidu also urged the people of the state to cooperate.

The city airport, which resumed services on Friday, had remained closed to commercial flights, after the roof of its main building was blown off by gusts of up to 195 kph (around 120 mph).

The full scale of the damage caused by Sunday's cyclone is still not known. Hundreds of uprooted trees have blocked roads and phone lines are down, making it hard to determine how many people have been affected.

Authorities say restoring power and telecommunications, and getting relief to affected communities was a priority.

Authorities in Andhra Pradesh, where at least 22 people were killed, said agricultural losses were high as winds and rains had lashed crops. Hundreds of livestock have been killed and scores of fishing boats damaged.

Along the coast, government workers continued to clear roads of scores of uprooted trees, mangled electricity poles and sign boards torn from buildings by storm, while helicopters dropped food and water packets to villages further inland.