The death toll due to incessant rain and flooding in four districts of the southern part of the State increased to 24, while 17 persons went missing as of Saturday evening.
A report issued by the AP State Disaster Management Authority on the situation in the affected districts of Nellore, Chittoor, Anantapur and Kadapa said that the casualties were 13 in Kadapa, seven in Anantapur and four in Chittoor.
A total of 172 mandals were affected, while 21 villages remained inundated. A total of 23,994 people were affected and 1,549 houses were damaged.
Agriculture and horticulture crops in an extent of 2.3 lakh hectares and 0.19 lakh hectares respectively were damaged in the four districts. Kadapa alone suffered damage to agricultural crops in 1.26 lakh hectares.
Restoration of damaged roads, power lines and other infrastructure by the R&B, Water Resources, APSPDCL and other departments was under way in the districts, the report said.
One helicopter each was deployed in Anantapur and Kadapa districts for rescue operation. Teams of NDRF, SDRF, Air Force and Fire Services rescued several people. Over 64 people, including a Circle Inspector and 35 bus passengers, were rescued.
Moderate rain today
Meanwhile, the low-pressure area over north interior Tamil Nadu and adjoining Karanataka and Rayalaseema become less marked.
As per the IMD forecast, light to moderate rainfall was very likely to occur at many places in Rayalaseema on Sunday.
