Cyclone fury kills 8 in two Indian states
visakhapatnam — A very severe cyclonic storm, Titli, unleashed havoc in north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha on Thursday, claiming eight lives in Andhra and causing widespread destruction, Indian officials said.
The cyclone, which made landfall between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha early on Thursday, triggered widespread rains in the two states, uprooted trees, electricity poles, communication towers, damaged houses and crops and snapped electricity supply.
Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh were affected by the cyclone, which hit the coast near Palasa close to the border with Odisha. Srikakulam district bore the brunt as the strong winds uprooted a large number of coconut trees.
Officials said five deaths were reported from Srikakulam district while three persons were killed in neighbouring Vijayanagaram district. Six fishermen were among the dead. Titli crossed between North Andhra and South Odisha coast near Palasa with wind speed of 140-150kmph.
amaravati — A very severe cyclonic storm Titli unleashed havoc in north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha on Thursday, claiming eight lives in Andhra and causing widespread destruction, officials said.
The cyclone threw normal life out of gear as heavy to very heavy rains started lashing the Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh since late on Wednesday night.
While a 62-year-old woman died at Gudivada Agraharam village after an uprooted tree fell on her, a 55-year-old man died in a house collapse at Rotanasa village in Srikakulam district, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) .
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) informed that six fishermen, who had put out to sea, were killed.
Of the 67 fishing boats that had ventured into the sea over the last few days from Kakinada in East Godavari district, 65 had returned to the shore safely, the CMO said.
Efforts were on to bring back the remaining two boats safely, it added in a release.
The road network suffered extensive damage in Srikakulam district, while the power distribution network was also vastly affected.
Thousands of electric poles were uprooted by strong winds.
The Eastern Power Distribution Company that caters to the electricity needs of the north coastal districts reported that the power distribution system for 4,319 villages and six towns was affected in Srikakulam district.
“We fear 6,000-7,000 electricity poles may have been uprooted,” K. Dhananjaya Reddy, district administrative chief of Srikakulam, said. “Around 400,000 to 500,000 people are now without electricity.” Traffic on the Chennai-Kolkata National Highway was also hit at places like Tekkali due to uprooted trees.
The telecommunication network in the district has also been hit.
The South Central Railway as well as the East Coast Railway cancelled several trains while some were terminated midway.
A few express trains were diverted via other regions.
Horticulture crops suffered extensive damage in Srikakulam district while paddy suffered damage in Vizianagaram.
Coconut plantations, banana and mango trees were the worst hit in the “very severe” cyclonic storm, according to a preliminary report prepared by the SDMA.
The Palasa, Vajrapukottur, Nandigam areas recorded 28.02 cm of rainfall followed by Kotabommali (24.82 cm), Santabommali (24.42 cm), Itchapuram (23.76 cm) and Tekkali (23.46 cm). The other mandals in Srikakulam district recorded rainfall ranging from 2 cm to 13.26 cm, the CMO said.
The cyclone made landfall in Odisha’s Gopalpur on Thursday with surface winds reaching 126 kmph early morning on Thursday, the Met said. There has been no casualty
yet. Heavy rains were dumped in at least eight districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore as Titli with high-velocity winds crossed the south Odisha-north Andhra Pradesh coasts leaving behind uprooted trees.
“The storm has caused heavy to very heavy rainfall in some districts of Odisha, damage to houses, street lights and roadblocks due to fallen trees,” said Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi. “We are still assessing the damage and
roadblocks are being cleared.”
Officials in Odisha evacuated more than 300,000 people, suspended operations at the port of Paradip and cancelled many trains and flights on Wednesday.
The Odisha Chief Minister’s office in a tweet on Wednesday said schools and colleges across the state would remain closed for the week. “Operations at Paradip have been suspended and all ships have been shifted to deep sea,” the Deputy Conservator of Paradip Port, Captain A.K. Mohapatra, said. —
500K People were without electricity in Srikakulam district