Cyclone Montha, a severe storm that made landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast on Tuesday night, has weakened into a cyclonic storm, leaving one person dead, The Times of India reported.
The cyclone made landfall between 11.30 pm and 12.30 am, crossing the Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry’s Yanam coasts south of Kakinada, The Hindu reported.
The cyclone brought winds of up to 100 kmph and heavy rainfall, causing extensive damage in several coastal districts.
A woman in Makanagudem village of Konaseema district died when an uprooted tree fell on her, PTI quoted the police as saying.
Two days of heavy rain has left more than 43,000 hectares of crops submerged, affecting about 83,000 farmers, with paddy and cotton the worst hit. Besides, initial estimates have put power sector losses at more than Rs 2,200 crore because of extensive damage to substations, transformers, poles and lines, The Hindu reported.
The impact of the cyclone was also felt in neighbouring Odisha, where the storm’s outer bands brought strong winds and torrential rainfall, causing landslides and blocking roads in districts such as Ganjam and Gajapati, The Times of India reported.
In addition to the damage on the ground, the cyclone affected around 160 trains that were either cancelled, rescheduled or diverted.
All 32 flights scheduled from Visakhapatnam Airport were cancelled on Tuesday due to the cyclone, PTI reported.
At Vijayawada airport, 16 flights were cancelled while four were cancelled at Tirupati airport.
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority has warned that even after landfall, many parts of the state are likely to receive very heavy rain on Wednesday, The Hindu reported.
An orange alert has been issued for the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, Alluri Sitharama Raju, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla and Palnadu.
An orange alert requires the authorities to “be prepared” in view of an extreme weather event.
The authorities have issued helpline numbers for those seeking assistance in cyclone-affected areas including Chittoor (08572-242777, 9491077325), Nellore (0861-2331261, 7995576699), Kakinada (0884-2356801), Bapatla (0863-2234014), Guntur (0864-3220226) and YSR Kadapa.
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