Cyclone Montha: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana witness heavy rains, strong winds

Hyderabad: The severe cyclonic storm Montha that crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Narasapuram in the early hours of Wednesday has left large parts of the state battered, while Telangana too suffered significant impact.

The coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh bore the brunt of Cyclone Montha’s fury, with torrential rains lashing regions from Visakhapatnam to Tirupati. Telangana, including Hyderabad, experienced continuous downpours from Tuesday night through Wednesday.

Heavy rains and strong winds uprooted hundreds of trees and electricity poles across the erstwhile East Godavari, Krishna, and Visakhapatnam districts, leading to widespread power outages, particularly in East Godavari.

Preliminary reports indicated that crops such as paddy, cotton, maize, and green gram, along with horticultural produce, have suffered extensive damage over nearly 4.4 lakh acres. In the Konaseema region, powerful winds caused havoc, destroying banana and paddy fields.

As Cyclone Montha made landfall near Narsapuram, the intensity of the winds and the sea’s turbulence increased, with waves crashing violently along the coast.

Further north, Ichchapuram town in Srikakulam district was submerged as floodwaters from the Bahuda River rose following the opening of the Bhagalati Dam gates in Odisha. The river’s inflow reached 51,228 cusecs, causing streams and rivulets throughout the district to overflow.

A Shiva temple near Ichchapuram’s old bridge was completely submerged under the floodwaters. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N ChandrababU Naidu conducted an aerial survey over the cyclone affected areas of Bapatla, Palnadu, Krishna, Konaseema, and Eluru districts.

The Andhra Pradesh Government has ordered the free distribution of daily essentials to people in cyclone-affected areas. As part of the relief effort, each affected family will receive 50 kg of rice for fishermen, 1 kg of lentils, 1 liter of cooking oil, 1 kg of onions, 1 kg of potatoes, and 1 kg of sugar.

In Telangana, heavy rains flooded several low-lying areas. In Nalgonda, students of a government Gurukul school were evacuated after rainwaters entered the campus. Train services were also disrupted as floodwaters inundated railway tracks at Dornakal Junction in Mahabubabad district and Gundratimadugu station. Golconda Express and Konark Express were halted, and several other trains were diverted, causing inconvenience to passengers.

Hyderabad has been witnessing continuous rains since Tuesday night throwing life out of gear especially commuters to offices had suffered due to heavy traffic jams across the city.

Following heavy rains Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy instructed the entire administration to remain on high alert. The Chief Minister enquired about the impact of Cyclone Montha mainly on Paddy harvesting and instructed the authorities to take necessary precautions to prevent losses due to heavy rains. Special arrangements should also be made at the Paddy and Cotton procurement centres.

The officials briefed him that the impact of Cyclone Montha is expected to be more severe in Khammam, Warangal and Nalgonda districts. As Hyderabad is witnessing heavy rains, Revanth Reddy ordered the local civic authorities to deploy disaster management teams to rescue people in the inundated areas in the city.

The SDRF and NDRF teams were directed to take up rescue operations in a coordinated manner in the heavy rain-affected districts under the guidance of the district Collectors. The state Irrigation department was alerted to closely monitor water levels at all projects, reservoirs and other water bodies.