In all, 30 tribal hamlets were cut off from the mainstream on Wednesday as heavy rains continued in West Godavari district.
While four persons were initially reported missing, two of them had been rescued by evening.
District Collector K. Bhaskar said that initial reports suggested that four tribal persons were washed away in the waters of Yedduvagu in Velerupadu mandal. Two of them were rescued immediately, he added.
Fishermen are searching for the remaining two persons.
Road connectivity to 20 villages from Velerupadu was cut off since early hours of Wednesday as Yedduvadu was in spate. To make matters worse, water from Pedavagu of Aswaraopeta mandal in Telangana too reached the stream.
“We have information that a few tribal people of Kammarigudem vacated the village and climbed a small hillock nearby,” said Shan Mohan, Project Officer of Kota Ramachandrapuram.
With Gundetivagu in spate, 10 villages of Kukkunuru mandal were cut off from the mainstream.
Tribal villages such as Gadaram, Gattugudem, Bestagudem, and Seetharamapuram were affected. Revenue officials were trying to reach out to these villages.
In East Godavari, streams and rivers such as Sileru and Sabari in the merged mandals, including Varama Ramachandrapuram, Chinturu, and Gangavaram, were overflowing. ITDA officials had already despatched essential commodities to DR depots. Rajavommangi received the highest rainfall of 202 mm on Tuesday followed by Rampachodavaram 177 mm. Chief amounts of rainfall at various places in East Godavari district are as follows: Rajanagaram — 84 mm, Korukonda — 74 mm, Gokavaram — 62.6, and Rajamahendravaram urban area — 32.3 mm.
