Hudhud hits Vizag hard

The severity of destruction caused by Cyclone Hudhud emerged a day after it ravaged coastal Andhra Pradesh with human fatalities reaching a grim 22 on Monday . Fifteen people were killed in Visakhapatnam, six in Vizianagaram and one in Srikakulam, said government spokesman Parakala Prabhakar, adding that more than 6,600 houses were destroyed and 1,780 animals had perished.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will survey the cyclone-affected districts on Tuesday from air after meeting chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam in the afternoon. He'll be confronted with a dreadful sight, of buildings with their frontages knocked out as if pounded by mortars, and rubble strewn all over the roads.
Trees, electricity and telephone poles have been flattened all over. Hospitals are packed with people seeking refuge and essentials like food and water, apart from a sliver of power to charge their phones.
There are long queues of anxious people outside groceries, milk booths and petrol pumps, with many complaining of fleecing by vendors who are charging up to Rs.80 for a litre of milk and other essential commodities. It forced Naidu to appeal to retailers to stop swindling the cyclone-ravaged citizens and charge only MRP . But no one apparently listened.
A10-litre can of drinking water sold for Rs.2,500 even as petrol pumps rationed one litre per customer At the break of dawn on Monday , strong winds were still howling across the city .There was an eerie calm and uprooted trees blocked the roads. Many still remained inside, shaken by nature's fury.
Till late in the day, power hadn't been restored and taps ran dry . Many power lines had snapped and trees uprooted. A couple of shops opened during the day and long queues formed outside as people shopped for edibles and whatever else they could lay their hands on. The shoppers paid inflated rates and stocks had run out quickly . In some localities, some shops made a killing, selling milk. There were no fresh vegetables. Clearly no one was ready for the disaster. No one had stocked up on food even though everybody knew a cyclone would strike their town.
At filling stations, long queues formed since morning, but attendants were rationing roughly about a litre per person. Many had turned up with cans to collect fuel, but even the pumps were fast running out of stock. Diesel seemed scarce. Several state transport drivers reached bus depots, but debris on the streets, meant the buses couldn't move. From broken billboards to uprooted tree trunks and poles, the entire city was in a big mess.

Preliminary assessment by the Odisha government suggests at least 80,000 houses were damaged in the state under the impact of Hudhud. Standing crops suffered extensive loss in Gajapati and Koraput districts, government sources said. Special relief commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra said over 25,000 houses were damaged in Koraput, 15,000 in Gajapati, 7,000 in Rayagada and 1,000 in Malkangiri.A government statement said evacuated people have started returning to their homes.