Michaung landfall under way, eye of the storm close to Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: Severe cyclonic storm Michaung’s landfall is currently underway with the eye of the cyclone situated near Bapatla in south Andhra Pradesh coast, said an official on Tuesday.

The weather system over the west-central Bay of Bengal, running along and off the south Andhra Pradesh coast is moving nearly northwards, parallel and close to the south Andhra Pradesh coast and is expected to complete crossing in the next two hours, the official said.

“Severe cyclonic storm Michaung is currently making landfall close to Bapatla. It is expected to complete its landfall in the next two hours. It is expected to complete crossing by 2 pm,” an Amaravati Meteorological Centre official told PTI.

The Amaravati Meteorological Centre noted that the intensity of gales near the centre of the severe cyclonic storm is 90 - 100 km per hour and gusting up to 110 kmph.

Meanwhile, 9,454 people have been evacuated from the seven districts of Konaseema, Kakinada, Krishna, Bapatla and Prakasam to safety in 211 relief camps, according to a dataset shared by APSDMA with PTI.

The state government evacuated 910 people from Konaseema district, Kakinada (523), Krishna (1,814), Bapatla (702), Prakasam (128), Nellore (1,991) and Tirupati (3,386).

As part of relief efforts, 10,251 food packets were distributed and 18,068 water packets.

With the severe cyclonic storm Michaung anticipated to hit Bapatla during its passage, residents have been advised against going outdoors.

Bapatla district superintendent of police Vakul Jindal told PTI that people living in thatched houses in the region have been evacuated.

We are vigilant and we will see what happens and respond accordingly, Jindal said. While some people were moved to shelters in vehicles, people living nearby walked there.

Earlier on Monday, Bapatla district collector Ranjit Basha, Jindal and MLA K Raghupati visited Suryalanka coast and issued instructions to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team and police officials.

Every police station in the district has been equipped with a JCB excavator, cutter machines, ropes and expert swimmers.

Taking past incidents into account, district police identified 24 vulnerable bridges and deployed police personnel there.

Similarly, 300 police personnel and other officials have been deployed in villages which are likely to suffer inundation.

Likewise, 60 policemen have been kept on standby at the district police headquarters to attend to emergencies.

One NDRF and two State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in the district. Police have evacuated people living in low lying areas.

In the event of an emergency, Bapatla district police told people to reach out to helplines 100, 112 and police control room number 8333813228.

Heavy rains continue to lash several parts of Andhra Pradesh as the severe cyclonic storm looming over the Bay of Bengal sea close to Andhra Pradesh and adjoining Tamil Nadu coasts is making landfall.

The weather system is moving northwards close to the coast and some parts of the wall cloud region already lie overland.

The Meteorological Department forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall, accompanied by gales in parts of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It also forecast extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places. On Tuesday, it forecast extremely heavy rainfall, greater than 204.4 mm, in isolated places of Konaseema, West Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Palnadu, Bapatla and Prakasam districts, along with heavy to very heavy rainfall, 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm, in parts of these districts.

Likewise, it forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in parts of Alluri Sitharamaraju, Kakinada, East Godavari, Kadapa and Nellore districts.

Further, the Meteorological Department forecast heavy rainfall, 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm, in parts of Srikakulam, Parvathipuram Manyam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Nandyala, Annamayya and Tirupati districts.

Except for the four Rayalaseema districts of Kurnool, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai and Chittoor, several parts of the rest of the state are expected to be pounded by rains.

Several parts of West Godavari district have been witnessing intermittent rainfall since Sunday night, which intensified into heavy rainfall on Tuesday.

In view of several streams and water bodies overflowing in East Godavari district, superintendent of police P Jagadish said police personnel have been deployed across the district to carry out relief efforts.

Similarly, Anakapalli district SP K V Murali Krishna directed his subordinates to clear uprooted trees and keep JCB excavators and cutting machines ready for this purpose.

He also directed them to coordinate with other departments to restore powerlines. In the wake of swollen water bodies, Murali Krishna called on people observing ‘karthika maasam’ rituals to avoid going to the seashore and other water bodies.

Meanwhile, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the official custodian of Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, noted that all the five major dams in Tirumala have reached their full capacity by 4 am on Monday itself due to incessant rains in the past four days.

Papavinasanam, Akasaganga, Gogarbham, Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara are the chief water sources in Tirumala. Water is also drawn from Kalyani Dam in Tirupati.

About 100 mm of rainfall had been recorded in Tirumala in just 24hours by Monday evening.

Further, TTD imposed restrictions on the movement of two-wheelers on ghat roads.

Tirupati MLA and TTD chairman B Karunakara Reddy visited cyclone affected people on Tuesday morning at Pulavanigunta and Gollavanigunta and interacted with them, and assured help.

Accompanied by officials, he told the affected people to stay vigilant and reach out whenever they need help. Reddy directed officials to provide food and drinking water to the affected people in Tirupati.

The South Central Railway Zone has set up helplines across its Divisions in Andhra Pradesh.