After the Cyclone Gulab made its landfall about 20 km north of Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday night at around 8 p.m., the Visakhapatnam city received copious rain till Monday evening. From the steady drizzle that began on Sunday morning, heavy rain lashed the city for the last 36 hours and many low-lying areas were covered under sheets of water.
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A few areas, especially the north-eastern part of the city such as Beach Road, Bheemunipatnam, PM Palem and Kailasagiri, have also witnessed strong gusts, which resulted in the uprooting of a number of avenue trees and a few houses in Peda Jalaripeta and Managamaripeta, located along the coast, suffered small damages.
The average rainfall received till Monday, as per the CM’s dashboard, was 300 mm in the city limits and some parts of the Visakha Agency such as Koyyuru received over 350 mm.
Till about Monday morning the areas that received high amount of rainfall, include Adavivaram (319 mm), Railway New Colony (242 mm), MRO Office Seethammadhara (234 mm), Pendurthi (231 mm), Gavarapalem (230 mm), Parawada (227 mm), Mudasarlova (217 mm), Prahladapuram (217 mm), Jail area (216 mm), Darapalem (215 mm), Simhachalam (214 mm) and Butchirajupalem (213 mm).
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Many of the low-lying areas such as Gnanapuram, Velamapeta, some areas in the Old Town, Gajuwaka, Naiduthhota Thatichetlapalem and Kancharapalem were flooded, and police officials were seen diverting the traffic.
The rainwater entered some of the houses in a few areas in Peda Gantyada, HB Colony, Gnanapuram, Sheelanagar and Pendurthi.
As per the police, there was only one unfortunate incident, where a woman died due the collapse of a boundary wall in Pendurthi area.
The entry to both the ghat roads leading to the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam Hill, were stopped by the authorities concerned after boulders fell on the road.
Almost all the parts of the city did not have power supply since late Sunday night and in some areas such as PM Palem, Madhurawada and Kailasagiri it is still to be resumed, till Monday evening.
People residing in hillocks have spent a sleepless night due to fear of landslides. Many families living in those areas moved down to their friends and relatives places, for safety.
District Collector A. Mallikarjuna, GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana and officials visited many of the areas evacuated a number of families to cyclone shelter homes, where there was flooding and danger of landslides.
Both the District Collector and the GVMC Commissioner have appealed to the people to contact the control room for any kind of assistance.
The GVMC officials said that they were expecting severe losses to the horticulture crop and officials from the APEPDCL said that are some damages, but not as severe as Cyclone Hudhud or the earlier ones and assured get things on rail by late Monday night.
Almost all rivers, canals and reservoirs in the district such as the Sarada river and Pedderu and Meghadrigedda reservoirs received voluminous flows and were full to the brim. However, a senior engineer from GVMC and officials from the Irrigation Department said that none were above the danger mark and water was being released judiciously to avoid flooding of low-lying areas and to keep things under control.
All the mandals in Visakha Agency also have been receiving good amounts of rainfall and almost all rivulets were in spate.
Sources say that about 30 to 35 villages in mandals such as Paderu, Araku, Dumbriguda, Hukumpeta and Anantagiri, have been cut off and will remain so till the water recedes in a day or two.