Cyclone Titli wreaks havoc in Andhra, 8 dead

Eight people died as Cyclone Titli wreaked havoc in northern coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.

The cyclone crossed the Andhra coast at Gollapadu in Srikakulam district early on Thursday morning before moving towards the Odisha coast, at a speed of 149 kmph.

The "very severe cyclonic storm" has caused the death of eight people in the state so far, even as people were being evacuated from fishing villages. In separate incidents, six fishermen died when their boat capsised, and one person died when his house collapsed. Another person died when a tree fell on him.

Power supply was affected in parts of Srikakulam district as electric poles were uprooted in several areas.

As heavy rain lashed coastal Andhra Pradesh, vegetations like coconut, banana and cashew gardens suffered huge loss in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts.

People in four revenue blocks including, Vajrapu Kothuru and Sompet have been advised against venturing out of homes. While Vajrapu kothur, Palasa and Nandigam received 24.82 cm rain fall so far, Santabommali recorded 24.42 cms, Ichchapuram 23.76 cms and Tekkali 23.46 cms.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the situation with officials through teleconference at 4 am and directed them to keep the administration on a high alert till Thursday evening.

Danger warnings have been issued at all ports and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea until further notice. People have been advised not to go near Ramakrishna beach in Visakhapatnam.

Till now, eight trains have been cancelled and nine have been diverted by the Railways, as trees have fallen on tracks in several areas including, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts.

A senior Railway official said that special counters have been opened for travellers and over Rs 6 lakh has been refunded to railway commuters so far.

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