Flood situation in AP grim

Death toll rises to 26; Kurnool, Vijayawada face submergence

Authorities said they were monitoring the situation closely and that efforts were under way on a war-footing to evacuate people from Kurnool town.

Six helicopters that were pressed into service could not take up full-fledged rescue operations due to bad weather.

As the huge outflows from Srisailam and Nagarjunsagar dams have threatened to inundate Vijayawada city and several low-lying villages in Krishna district, authorities have begun evacuating people.

Army and airforce helicopters were  pressed into service to rescue 25,000 people who were marooned in Kurnool. The worst floods in the Krishna river in 100 years have so far claimed 26 lives.

Officials said 100,000 were shifted to relief camps. Hundreds of villages in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Krishna and Guntur districts were cut off following incessant rain over the last two days under the influence of a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.

The continuing massive inflows in Srisailam, downstream Nagarjuna Sagar and Prakasam barrage posed flood threat to several villages in Nalgonda, Guntur and Krishna districts.

Trains cancelled

The South Central Railway has cancelled or diverted a number of trains. Trains that were cancelled on Friday included the Kacheguda Express from and to Bangalore,  the Bangalore City Nanded Link Express and the Yeshwantpur- Bagalkot Express. Since the Hyderabad-Bangalore national highway is under water at several points, road transport between the two cities has come to a halt.

According to the Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre, heavy rain under the impact of the low pressure area was likely in north coastal Andhra, Telangana and Rayalaseema regions.