Cyclone Hudhud intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and lay centred 470 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam. The system is expected to cross the coast near Visakhapatnam by forenoon of Sunday.
Under its influence heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur from Saturday in East and West Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts in A.P. and parts of South Odisha. Rainfall would also occur at isolated places over Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts in State, Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) here said in its advisory.
Sea condition along and off North A.P. and South Odisha coasts would be rough to very rough from Saturday and fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea. The storm surge is expected to cause widespread destruction to property at the time of landfall.
The district administrations of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari have geared up to meet the eventuality. Senior officers have been deputed to monitor the preparations for pre and post cyclone. The government decided to cancel the leaves of employees and they have been asked to return to duty.
In Srikakulam 237 villages in 11 mandals are likely to be affected and district administration is gearing up for evacuation of over 1 lakh persons, Collector Gaurav Uppal said. In Vizianagaram 10 centres are being readied for evacuating 17,000 persons in two mandals, Collector M.M. Naik said.
In Visakhapatnam 125 centres were being readied for sheltering the affected persons, Minister Ganta Srinivas Rao said after reviewing the readiness. Over 35,000 are likely to be evacuated from 52 villages in 16 mandals, Collector N. Yuvaraj said.
In East Godavari district 13 mandals are likely to be affected and people in islands are also being evacuated, Deputy Chief Minister Chinna Rajappa said.
NDRF has placed 15 teams all along the coast from Srikakulam to Kakinada ready to be deployed where ever necessary. All the teams are fully geared up to clear the roads, collapsed structures and rescue persons, DIG NDRF S.S. Guleria said. The Eastern Naval Command of Indian Navy has four ships and six aircraft on stand-by to extend humanitarian assistance.
Traffic is being regulated on the National Highway to ensure that no vehicles get stranded in the storm zone on Sunday, OSD Relief Aravind Kumar said. The Railways have cancelled 31 trains passing through or reaching or starting from Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
