Heavy rains, winds lash Vizag as Cyclone Hudhud intensifies

Heavy rains and strong winds have lashed Vizag as cyclonic storm Hudhud is growing in sheer force, uprooting trees and threatening to devastate farmlands as it is about to make landfall in southeast coast of Andhra Pradesh this afternoon.

"Big trees have fallen in the area and there is heavy rainfall and strong winds blowing. Around 10-15 buses have been stopped because of heavy winds and few of them were blown backwards because of the wind force," said a resident, Krishna Vamsi.

Intense waves due to the cyclone have breached the breakwater wall and visibility is now less than 500 meters. Power failures have also been reported in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

Residents say they have been facing numerous problems due to the bad weather.

"We are facing lot of problems from last night as we are not getting any food items. Trees have fallen. No one is coming out of their houses. We have nothing to eat," said another resident, Sumanth Reddy.

Cyclonic storm Hudhud is now approximately 90 km south-east of Vizag and is likely to make landfall reassessed at North of Vizag off Bheemunipatnam by 12 pm today.

Twenty four NDRF teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh and 18 in Odisha.

Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth said helpline numbers 1948 and 1949 have been started for Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

"Helplines have been started, railways have been cancelled. Diesel locomotives have been stationed in case of power cuts. Coastguard has its ships and aircrafts on standby, there is support from Airforce and Army. All these assets and resources are available," said Seth.

Thirty diving teams, eight ships, six helicopters, four Dornier MR Aircrafts have been kept on standby for rescue and relief operations.