After Hudhud fury, restoration work starts in Andhra, Odisha

As cyclone Hudhud weakened, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha governments focused on the relief operations from Monday to bring back normal life back on track.

It has been learnt that the primary target has been the restoration of essential commodities like electricity, water and communication -- which was snapped following devastating storm that swept through coastal Andhra and Odisha unleashing a fury with wind speeds touching about 200 kmph on Sunday.

Though the devastation passed away, the wrath is far from being over said the weather officials.

According to Met department, Hudhud, which currently is centred very close to south Chhattisgarh and adjoining southwest Odisha, has now turned from severe cyclone to a deep depression.

As a result, many parts of Andhra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall.

An alert for the same has been sounded in districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram and in some parts of Odisha, where the cyclone claimed six lives so far before heading to Chhattisgarh.

A Met official said, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana, south Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, east Uttar Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra will also receive rain fall in the next 24 hours.

Andhra is the worst affected state, which bore the burnt of Hudhud with hundreds of fallen trees, poles and other rubble blocking roads.

Winds tore away roofs and hoardings in the city, where the cyclone made landfall on Sunday.

Road transport continued to be hampered due to damages to highways and internal roads in towns.

Besides, movement of trains has come to a complete halt. Over 2.48 lakh people in 320 villages of 44 mandals (blocks) have been affected by the cyclone in Andhra Pradesh.

As many as 1,35,262 persons have been evacuated and accommodated in 223 relief camps.

Andhra government is focusing on bringing life back to normal in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram which bore the brunt of the cyclonic fury.

The government said that district officials, heads of departments and every government employee would be on field for relief, restoration and rehabilitation works.

Vizag has been severely damaged.

There is no electricity and telephone lines are down too.

The airport is closed. Water entered the runway, forcing the authorities to suspend all operations.

Out on the streets of this usually bustling city are fallen trees, banners ripped out, broken statues of leaders and many telephone and electricity poles.

The railway line is badly damaged.

Another town Srikakulam town is facing a major flood threat as river Nagavali received heavy inflows on Sunday evening.

Srikakulam town recorded 210 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to official sources.

On the other hand, Odisha was comparatively less damaged.

Odisha special relief commissioner PK Mohapatra said no serious damage has been reported except for a few trees and electric poles getting uprooted in one or two districts.

Media reported, three persons were killed in incidents of wall and roof collapses and uprooting of trees in the state.

About 156,000 in nine districts of Odisha--were evacuated to relief camps before Cyclone Hudhud made landfall.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this morning that he will visit Visakhapatnam on Tuesday to take stock of the situation.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is in the city to access the situation.

He has demanded that Cyclone Hudhud be declared a national calamity and that the Centre release Rs 2000 crore as interim relief.

A full assessment of the damage is yet to be done; the government said yesterday that even radars in the state have been damaged.

Naidu said, he spoke to PM, who has been constantly taking updates.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to CMs of Bihar, Jharkhand,MP, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal to take stock of the situation.

“The States seem to be prepared for any eventuality arising from the impact of 'Hudhud' that is expected to bring heavy rains,” Singh posted on Twitter.

It has been learnt that National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will hold a meeting in Delhi on Monday evening to access the situation.

The Indian Navy is also assisting the operations with a P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, based in Chennai, expected to carry out damage assessment of the coastal areas hit by the cyclone.

Indian army personnel are present in the affected area to assist in relief work.

Six teams of National Disaster Response Force and Army and Navy personnel helped in relief and rescue operations even as strong winds battered coastal areas under impact of the cyclone.