Titli hits eastern states, 300,000 evacuated
Cyclone plays havoc in Andhra, claims 8 lives as it makes landfall in eastern coast yesterday
Acyclone packing winds of up to 150km/h and heavy rains hit eastern India early yesterday, with over 300,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas and two men reported killed.
Officials in neighbouring Bangladesh said they were on alert in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, home to around one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in tarpaulin and bamboo shelters.
Cyclone Titli, which intensified into a “very severe cyclonic storm” over the Bay of Bengal, made landfall on India’s eastern coast early yesterday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.
Wind speeds of up to 150km/h were reported, with gusts of up to 165km/h. One man died in a house collapse while another was killed by a falling tree, an emergency services official was quoted as saying by PTI.
The Odisha state government evacuated more than 300,000 people from five coastal districts on Wednesday while local schools, colleges and childcare centres were ordered closed and fishermen advised not to go out to sea.
Andhra hit
The severe cyclonic storm which crossed the coast near Gopalapuram in Odisha in the wee hours yesterday has claimed 8 lives and caused extensive damage to property in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
While five people died in the worst hit Srikakulam district three died in Vijayanagaram district in incidents of drowning, house collapse and tree fall.