Eight People killed In Andhra Pradesh, lakhs while not power as Cyclone Titli lashes Andhra-Odisha coast

The severe cyclonic storm wreaked havoc on infrastructure, blocking roads and hampering emergency work. TV footage showed tin roofs of many homes being blown away.

At least eight people were killed and lakhs were left while not power on Thursday as Cyclone Titli hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha destroying huts, uprooting trees, snapping electrical and telephone poles, officials said.

“We fear 6,000-7,000 electricity poles could are uprooted. Around 4,00,000 to 5,00,000 people are now while not electricity,” K Dhananjaya Reddy, district body chief of Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh said.

Cyclone “Titli,” with gusts of up to 165 kilometres per hour (100 mph), created landfall within the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh too soon Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said.

The severe cyclonic storm wreaked havoc on infrastructure, blocking roads and hampering emergency work. TV footage showed tin roofs of many homes being blown away.

“We are still assessing the damage and roadblocks are being cleared,” special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said, per wire agency Reuters.

The weather office said heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places is very like in Odisha within the next twenty-four hours.

“We believe that the entire state, except some western components, is probably going to receive rain throughout the day. Depending upon the rainfall, we tend to may even see some flood in coastal Odisha,” Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said.

Cyclone Titli can, however, weaken gradually and is expected to show into a “deep depression” by Friday morning, IMD said. “It (Cyclone Titli) is incredibly likely to move northwestwards for the next twelve hours then re-curve northeastwards towards Gangetic West Bengal across Odisha,” it said.

“It is very likely to weaken gradually turning into severe cyclonic storm around noon, cyclonic storm around the evening of today (Thursday) and a deep depression by the morning of tomorrow, October 12, 2018,” it added.

As the landfall method started, the 3 north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam knowledgeable about heavy rains and high-speed gales. And a minimum of 5 districts — Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur — in Odisha also received rainfall coupled with high-speed winds under the impact of Cyclone Titli.

Seawater entered homes in Uppada in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district as the maximum of the height of the tides was of 10ft on the coast close to the point of landfall. The highway in the Uppada-Kakinada stretch was closed for traffic as a precautionary measure.

Cyclone Titli battered Palasa municipality badly, bringing life to a standstill and several other manuals in Srikakulam district lost power when the severe storm. Road communication in some places, as well as Odisha’s Gopalpur and Berhampur, was snapped, according to PTI.

Uddanam region with seven manuals in Srikakulam district bore the strength of Cyclone Titli with heavy damages of coconut and cashew plantations. Standing crops in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts also reported damages on a colossal scale.

Trains, flights cancelled

The East Coast Railway zone of the Indian Railways stopped the movement of all trains on the Chennai-Howrah section from Wed afternoon until additional orders. Some trains were off too.

The railways also suspended trains bound for Srikakulam and the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) also withdrew its bus services covering the cyclone-affected areas and power supply was shut down within the wake of warnings sounded by IMD.

The Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar closed its night parking from Wednesday night. Indigo airlines cancelled 5 of its flights originating from Bhubaneswar.

The cancelled flights include 2 for Delhi, one each for Kolkata, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The incoming flights from these destinations have also been cancelled, said airport director Suresh Hota.

The Odisha government evacuated over three lakh people from 5 coastal districts were evacuated as a precautionary step before Cyclone Titli made a landfall. It said all school and colleges within the state will be shut for the next 2 days, and students union elections in colleges scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled.

The Centre also rushed nearly 1,000 National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) personnel to Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal on Wednesday besides supplying directions for storage of food, fuel and maintaining power supply and telecommunication line.