Heavy rains batter coastal Andhra as cyclone inches closer

Hyderabad, May 20 : Heavy rain battered Andhra Pradesh Thursday paralyzing transport and snapping power and communication links as cyclonic storm Laila showed signs of weakening before hitting the coast. The storm has claimed 14 lives so far.Incessant rain accompanied by strong gales wrought havoc in the six coastal districts where at least 11 towns and 1,500 villages plunged into darkness and communication was disrupted as strong winds uprooted electricity poles, transformers and communication towers.Heavy to very heavy rains have inundated several parts of the port town of Machilipatnam in Krishna district. Large parts of Ongole town in Prakasam district and Bapatla in Guntur district are also under water, officials said. Bus stations, shops and even hospitals in the towns are under one to two feet of water. Road and rail transport was paralysed in several parts of south coastal Andhra Pradesh, especially the worst-hit Prakasam and Guntur districts. Weather officials forecast that the cyclonic storm may not cause severe damage when it crosses the coast close to Bapatla in south Andhra Pradesh by Thursday afternoon. "The system is showing signs of weakening due to increase of wind shear and land interaction," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its bulletin. The cyclonic storm lay centred at about 50 km east of Ongole, 50 km south of Bapatla and 70 km south-southwest of Machilipatnam. It is likely to move in a northwesterly to northerly direction and cross Andhra Pradesh coast about 50 km southwest of Machilipatnam later in the day. IMD has forecast widespread rainfall with scattered heavy to very heavy rain and isolated extremely heavy rainfall (25 cm or more) over the coastal areas of the state during the next 36 hours. Fierce winds with maximum speed reaching 100-110 km per hour are likely along and off the coast. The IMD has warned that storm surge of 1.5-2 metres above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate the coastal areas of Guntur, Krishna and West and East Godavari districts at the time of landfall. At least 14 people were killed in rain-related incidents like lightning strikes and wall collapses since Tuesday night. About 25 fishermen are also reported missing. Mango, banana and other horticulture crops over thousands of acres in the coastal districts were damaged. Authorities have alerted people in 777 villages, likely to be hit by storm surge in Guntur, Krishna, and West and East Godavari districts. Over 50,000 people have already been evacuated while thousands of others moved to safe places on their own. Over 500 personnel of National Disaster Response Force have been deployed with boats and other rescue equipment. Four helicopters have been kept ready for rescue while the state authorities have also sought help from the Indian Navy.
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Cyclone Laila hits train services in coastal Andhra

Hyderabad,May 20: The severe cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal has badly hit train services in coastal Andhra Pradesh with as many as 31 passenger trains being cancelled and some others diverted.In view of heavy rains and gales in nine coastal districts, which are under the influence of cyclone Laila, the South Central Railway announced cancellation of 31 passenger trains Thursday and Friday. It was also decided to reduce the speed of other trains to 60 km per hour when the cyclone crosses the coast later in the day. Several trains are running four to six hours late due to incessant rains and gales. In Ongole town of Prakasam district, railway tracks were inundated, affecting train services. In Vijayawada railway division, all passenger trains were cancelled. Important trains which were cancelled include the Chennai-Howrah Coromandel Express, Krishna-Tirupati Puri Express, Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam passenger train, Tirupati-Adilabad Krishna Express, and Tirupati-Bilaspur and Tirupati-Guduru passenger trains. The Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express was running five hours late, while the Chennai-Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express returned to Chennai from Nellore. Visakhapatnam-Guntur Simhadri Express and Howrah-Hyderabad special train were stopped in Tuni in East Godavari district due to heavy rains.
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Cyclone 'Laila' creates havoc in coastal AP

Hyderabad, May 20 : The severe cyclonic storm 'Laila', which lay centred near Machilipatnam in East Coast of Andhra Pradesh, created havoc in Coastal Andhra Pradesh with its gale winds and uninterrupted rains uprooting heavy trees and affecting power supply in various places.The cyclonic storm over West Central Bay of Bengal moved North Westwards and lay centered about 120 km South-South -East of Machilipatnam. It was likely to cross the coast by today afternoon.Due to impact of the cyclonic storm, standing crops of mango, paddy and banana in thousands of acres were submerged in rain water in several mandals of the coastal districts of the state.Reports reaching here said several mandals in Krishna, West and East Godavari, Prakasam, Nellore, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts plunged into darkness as electrical polls were damaged in these areas due to uprooting of trees. Authorities were busy in restoring the power supply. In some areas the authorities disconnected the power supply as a precautionery measure to avoid any dangerous situation.Thousands of people were evacuated from low lying areas to safer places where administration provided food, drinking water, milk, kerosene and medicines.
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Severe cyclone 'Laila' close to AP coast

Hyderabad,May 20: Armed forces were kept ready as the Andhra Pradesh Government braced itself to meet cyclone 'Laila', the severe cyclone which lays less than 100 km off Machilipatnam where it is expected to make a landfall later in the afternoon amid heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds in the bay lashing the coast of Andhra Pradesh since last night.Amid reports of six deaths in rain related incidents across the state, the government in a massive evacuation operations was using force, possibly for the first time, to shift the people to safer places from the remote islands in the Diviseema and Hope Island as rain battered the coastal area.Ongole and Nellore faced the brunt of more then to cm rain last night. However, they got some relief today as the cyclone moved away from the district coast, remaining stationery and moving north eastward later. Weathermen, contrary to popular speculation that 'Laila' had weakened, in fact upgraded its severe cyclone warning as nearly 600 personnel of the National Disaster Force with nearly 80 boats and concrete cutter equipment were stationed at various strategic coastal centres. Chief Minister K Rosaiah joined this morning Chief Secretary S V Prasad, who had stationed himself at the control room in the State Secretariat since last night to review the situation.With ministers sent to districts, senior IAS officials with previous experience in handling cyclone relief operations were positioned across the coastal belt. Train movement have been curtailed on advisory even as Naval helicopters have been positioned at Gannavaram Airport close to the expected landfall at Machilipatnam.
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