Most parts of the Nellore district narrowly escaped the fury unleashed by ‘Vardah’ here on Monday, even as the national highway and train traffic was badly hit between Gudur and Chennai.
Several trains such as Navajeevan Express and Coromandal Express came to a halt at Sullurupeta, Tada and Gudur. Officials diverted the rest of traffic via Renigunta and Arakkonam to Chennai. They expect normal traffic to be restored by Tuesday.
Naidu for continued vigilADVERTISEMENT
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Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has instructed the Revenue, Police, State Disaster Response Force and other departments not to lower their guard against cyclone Vardah which, he said, was likely to cause heavy rain in a day or two.
Addressing the officials through a teleconference here on Monday evening, Mr. Naidu said the spectre of downpour looms large, though the cyclone crossed the coast near Chennai.
He wanted steps that would prevent breaches to tanks and help in effectively dealing with the situation arising from floods, while taking necessary relief and rehabilitation measures in Chittoor and Nellore districts.
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Mr. Naidu ordered that all possible assistance be extended to Tamil Nadu, which suffered extensive damage. Principal Secretary (CMO) Satish Chandra said he would discuss the contribution that could be made by the State, with the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu.
Officials told the Chief Minister that the cyclone touched the Tamil Nadu coast at 2.30 p.m. on Monday and it has since brought heavy rains to Chennai and other parts of that State and the south coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Heavy rains were reported from many parts of Chittoor and Nellore districts and moderate rain in Kadapa. Anantapur could receive heavy rains from the early hours of Tuesday.
Nearly 12,000 people were put up in the relief camps in 11 mandals of Nellore district.
There, however, were no casualties so far.
Meanwhile, Spicejet diverted a Tirupati-bound flight to Hyderabad. Several trains have been cancelled.
Fishermen rescued
At the Sriharikota space centre, 18 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were rescued by expert swimmers with the help of boats after several hours of rescue operations undertaken by the special teams. These fishermen belonging to Arambakkam in the neighbouring State had ventured into the sea three days ago and got caught in the rough seas eventually.
The district officials shifted 30 persons to a relief camp at Kotakatla in Sullurupeta mandal following rainwater logging in the area.
Life hit
Life was thrown out of gear as heavy rains, accompanied by gales reaching speeds of 70 to 90 kmph, hit villages and habitations along the coast in Sullurupeta, Tada, Vakadu, Kota, Nayudupeta and other far southern areas in the district.
A crude oil tanker overturned at the Holy Cross Junction in Sullurupeta on the national disrupting the traffic on the highway for some time.
Uprooted trees and debris on the highways and roads gave a tough time to motorists at many places. The special teams formed by the revenue, police and fire services departments were busy clearing the debris.
Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana, District Collector R. Mutyala Raju and other officials monitored the cyclone situation from the collectorate in Nellore. Senior IAS officer B. Sreedhar, who is special officer for Vardah cyclone relief operations, visited Sullurupeta and Tada areas to oversee relief operations there.
Rain, a breather
The heavy rain came as a breather at a time when there was hardly any rainfall this December throughout the district.
The rainfall under the impact of cyclone was 36 mm at Vakadu, 24 mm at Chittamur, 23 mm at Tada and 7.4 mm at Nellore. There has been no rainfall recorded in upland areas like Udayagiri and Sitaramapuram.
The officials said that two special teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) swung into relief operations in Tada area and Nayudupeta areas.
Regional Fire Officer D. Murali Mohan said that nearly 303 staff of the fire services department were deployed in the cyclone vulnerable areas, along with 100 volunteers.