Cyclone Hudhud smashed into India's eastern coast near Vishakhapatnam with winds at nearly 200 km per hour that destroyed houses, flooded fields and damaged some naval installations Five people were killed in the state and neighbouring Odisha as the storm sustained its peak momentum for six hours. Hudhud weakened somewhat after hammering the coast around noon on Sunday , but the weather will lash northern Andhra Pradesh and southern Odisha with torrential rain in the next 48 hours, which will submerge crops and cause more hardship to people, officials said.
The damage was limited owing to large-scale evacuation of people. But trees and buildings suffered. “The naval base at Vishakhapatnam has seen some storm damage with approximately 30-40% trees uprooted inside Naval Station and some naval installations on Dolphin Hill have suffered damage,“ the defence ministry said in a statement.
The defence forces are ready with a fleet of ships, aircraft and helicopters to rescue people, it said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and promised all possible help in relief and rescue LS Rathore, director general, India Meteorological Department, said widespread rainfall is expected in central and eastern India, including, West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the next few days. “Crops in maturity stage could be impacted, with these widespread rainfall,“ said Rathore. Paddy, soybean, cotton and pulses are the major crops planted and in various stages of maturity.
Officials in Andhra Pradesh said they fear more crop damage.
After evacuating nearly 1.5 lakh people in the low-lying areas of four north coastal districts to be affected by the Hudhud cyclone and readying disaster management teams, AP government urged citizens to provide information to strengthen rescue and rehabilitation operations.
The Andhra Pradesh government deployed 19 teams of national disaster response force (NDRF) supported with two columns of army and 39 navy rescue teams equipped with six helicopters and 56 boats with equipment. South Central Railways, which cancelled several trains in the cyclone affected areas, has, in a first of its kind initiative, opened its railway coaches, community halls and station buildings to the public to serve as shelters for affected locals. The railways has deployed four trains with 55 empty coaches at four major stations to serve as emergency shelters as per local requirements.
The NDRF teams have deployed rescue and rehabilitation equipment fearing extensive damages to physical structures and agricultural crops, apart from uprooting of big trees and disruption of power and communication lines in nearly 320 villages of four north coastal Andhra districts. To minimise human loss, the government machinery has ordered suspension of fishing operations and power supply in the area of cyclone influence, apart from regulating aviation, rail and road traffic.
October and November are peak months for development of cyclones over Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea. This will be the second cyclone after Nanauk in June dissipated over Arabian sea. After landfall the system maintained the intensity of a very severe cyclonic storm for 6 hours and gradually weakened into a cyclonic storm in subsequent 6 hours while moving northwestwards across Odisha and Chhattisgarh said Mohapatra. On Sunday , the states of Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh also received heavy rainfall.
The storm surge which was about 1-2 meters above astronomical tide inundated low-lying areas of Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh at the time of landfall. This led to damage to kutcha houses, old buildings, disruption of power and communication lines, said the met department. Also, rail and road traffic movement was stalled due to extensive rains.
PM Narendra Modi has promised Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu all possible assistance.PM, who had on Saturday held an emergency high-level meeting to review preparedness for the cyclone, spoke with Naidu over phone and discussed relief and rescue measures. He had on Saturday asked officials to ensure that rescue and relief operations proceed smoothly and people are informed about the cyclone on a real-time basis. Modi had also asked home minister to be in touch with the CMs of the states to be affected by it. The meet was attended by the cabinet secretary , the principal secretary to the PM, the home secretary , the defence secretary , and officials from the IMD and the PMO.
The damage was limited owing to large-scale evacuation of people. But trees and buildings suffered. “The naval base at Vishakhapatnam has seen some storm damage with approximately 30-40% trees uprooted inside Naval Station and some naval installations on Dolphin Hill have suffered damage,“ the defence ministry said in a statement.
The defence forces are ready with a fleet of ships, aircraft and helicopters to rescue people, it said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and promised all possible help in relief and rescue LS Rathore, director general, India Meteorological Department, said widespread rainfall is expected in central and eastern India, including, West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the next few days. “Crops in maturity stage could be impacted, with these widespread rainfall,“ said Rathore. Paddy, soybean, cotton and pulses are the major crops planted and in various stages of maturity.
Officials in Andhra Pradesh said they fear more crop damage.
After evacuating nearly 1.5 lakh people in the low-lying areas of four north coastal districts to be affected by the Hudhud cyclone and readying disaster management teams, AP government urged citizens to provide information to strengthen rescue and rehabilitation operations.
The Andhra Pradesh government deployed 19 teams of national disaster response force (NDRF) supported with two columns of army and 39 navy rescue teams equipped with six helicopters and 56 boats with equipment. South Central Railways, which cancelled several trains in the cyclone affected areas, has, in a first of its kind initiative, opened its railway coaches, community halls and station buildings to the public to serve as shelters for affected locals. The railways has deployed four trains with 55 empty coaches at four major stations to serve as emergency shelters as per local requirements.
The NDRF teams have deployed rescue and rehabilitation equipment fearing extensive damages to physical structures and agricultural crops, apart from uprooting of big trees and disruption of power and communication lines in nearly 320 villages of four north coastal Andhra districts. To minimise human loss, the government machinery has ordered suspension of fishing operations and power supply in the area of cyclone influence, apart from regulating aviation, rail and road traffic.
October and November are peak months for development of cyclones over Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea. This will be the second cyclone after Nanauk in June dissipated over Arabian sea. After landfall the system maintained the intensity of a very severe cyclonic storm for 6 hours and gradually weakened into a cyclonic storm in subsequent 6 hours while moving northwestwards across Odisha and Chhattisgarh said Mohapatra. On Sunday , the states of Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh also received heavy rainfall.
The storm surge which was about 1-2 meters above astronomical tide inundated low-lying areas of Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh at the time of landfall. This led to damage to kutcha houses, old buildings, disruption of power and communication lines, said the met department. Also, rail and road traffic movement was stalled due to extensive rains.
PM Narendra Modi has promised Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu all possible assistance.PM, who had on Saturday held an emergency high-level meeting to review preparedness for the cyclone, spoke with Naidu over phone and discussed relief and rescue measures. He had on Saturday asked officials to ensure that rescue and relief operations proceed smoothly and people are informed about the cyclone on a real-time basis. Modi had also asked home minister to be in touch with the CMs of the states to be affected by it. The meet was attended by the cabinet secretary , the principal secretary to the PM, the home secretary , the defence secretary , and officials from the IMD and the PMO.
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