Phethai' Cyclone makes landfall at Yanam, 1 killed ; huge damage to crops

Vijayawada, Dec 17 (UNI) The 'Phethai' Cyclone crossed Andhra Pradesh coast close to south of Yanam, near Kakinada in East Godavari district between 1330 and 1430 hours on Monday.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), it is very likely to move northeastwards and emerge into westcentral Bay of Bengal off Kakinada coast during next 3 hours. Thereafter, it is very likely to continue to move northeastwards, weaken further and again cross Andhra Pradesh coast close to Tuni during late evening of today as a Deep Depression with a wind speed of 55-65 kmph gusting 75 kmph.

The Phethai cyclone caused huge damage to standing crops, especially paddy in East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Visakhapatnam districts. Hundreds of electric poles and trees got uprooted disrupting vehicular traffic.

The Cyclone claimed a life of Rangala Durga Rao (28) as he was killed when massive boulders from a hill fell on him at Kreesthurajpuram here. Tahasilkar Madhuri said that the hillock socked in rain and caved in on him killing him instantaneously. Collector B Lakshmikantham announced Rs.50,000 immediately financial help to the bereaved family.

Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts received heavy rain since last midnight. However, normalcy restored the evening in Guntur and Krishna districts. Cloudy and chilly weather prevailed across the coastal AP districts.

The farmers of the district bore the brunt of the cyclone as standing crops including paddy, turmeric, maize, cotton and chilli got damaged by heavy rain. Paddy crop in thousands of acres was seen submerged in rain water in Guntur, Krishna and East Godavari districts.

Several trees and electric poles were uprooted in East Godavari district resulting in several areas, including the Kakinada city plunged into darkness.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in Vijayawada, Guntur and Kakinada cities for several hours. Mobile phone services were also disrupted at some areas.

The railways cancelled 47 train services including Simhadri, Ratnachal and Janmabhoomi express which has to go towards Visakhapatnam. As many as 750 passengers were stranded in Visakhapatnam Airport due to disruption of flight services.

As many as 14 flight services were cancelled. Ministers--- Nara Lokesh, Kala Venkata Rao, Kidari Shravan, N Chinarajappa and P Narayana monitored the relief operations in various districts of the state.

The removal of uprooted trees and poles was taken up in a big way in the affected areas. The AP government claimed that it was successful in minimizing the cyclone damage by taking massive precautionary measures under the direction of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The Real Time Governance started monitoring the situation as week in advance and appealed to people repeatedly to minimize damage, officials claimed.

The Chief Minister would review the situation with Ministers and officials tonight, officials said.

Real Time Governance CEO Babu A said that over 25,000 people were shifted to relief camps. He said that the RTG has been monitoring the cyclone track with the help of ISRO and other advanced global weather forecast systems. He said the RTG played a key role in alerting the fishermen who ventured into sea for their safe return to the coast. In addition people residing in cyclone prone areas were alerted through IVRS and messages.