Vizianagaram district experienced significant rainfall with the impact of severe cyclonic storm Fani, providing much-needed relief to the people who were struggling due to non availability of drinking water. Terlam received the highest rainfall of 44 mm followed by Merakamudidam with 32.6 mm till 6 a.m, Friday.
Cheepurupalli witnessed 37 mm rain, Garividi 30.6 mm and Gurla received 26.2 mm rainfall. Interestingly, tribal mandal Gumma Lakshmipuram got 17.2 mm. Pusapati Rega mandal which is very close to the coast, could get 26.8 mm and another coastal mandal Bhogapuram got 16.1 mm rainfall. Vizianagaram town received 7.2 mm rainfall as per the latest bulletin from the Vizianagaram district administration. Except Srinigavarapukota, the remaining 33 mandals witnessed rainfall. The average rainfall was 7.6 mm in the district. More rains were anticipated when the cyclone hits the coast near Gopalpur in Odisha later in the day.
People faced many difficulties with continuous power cuts in Vizianagaram. The district headquarters and other areas had no power for the whole night of Thursday as APEPDCL has withdrawn power as a precautionary measure. However it is likely to be restored with the weakening of gales. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) initially anticipated the movement of gales with a speed of 200 km but it has now indicated that their strength could be under 60-70 kmph. Vizianagaram Collector M. Hari Jawaharlal, Vizianagaram Joint Collector K.Venkata Ramana Reddy monitored the situation and gathered information from all mandals.
According to them, there was no human loss or property damage with the impact of the cyclone. However, the cyclone damaged banana and mango crops in several areas such as Cheepurupalli, Gurla, Merakamudidam and others. AP Horticulture Department and Revenue Departments were expected to assess the damage and send a report to the government by evening.
