Cyclone Phethai hits Andhra coast hard: All that has happened since landfall

The coastal towns of Andhra Pradesh were on high alert on Monday, in anticipation of the “severe” cyclonic storm dubbed as Phethai which made landfall near Katrenikona in East Godavari district last afternoon. The storm system that had originally formed over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved northwards covering most of the state, with a wind speed varying from 70-90 kmph. Parts of the coastal region, especially Krishna district, had begun experiencing rains and rough sea since Sunday,

High waves, strong winds and heavy rains inundated 22 of the state’s districts throughout the day, as predicted by the Real Time Governance Centre. This mostly included the low lying areas of Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, and Guntur districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Yanam district of Puducherry. The government was quick to take notice and called for the evacuation of people in these districts to safe areas.

Forecast

Although the Indian Metereological Department predicted a weakening of the system into a depression by night, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu tweeted about beefing up rescue operations and safety preparedness across various parts of the state, in case it turns into a disaster situation, especially after bulletins cautioning villagers of Yanam and Kakinada were sounded by forecast agencies.

All the government departments are well prepared to face #CyclonePhethai. Disaster management teams have taken every measure to reduce the impact of the calamity. Timely warnings and forecast updates are being sent out by RTGS to keep the citizens alert.— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) December 17, 2018

At around 6 PM, the storm moved northwards with the speed of 17 kmph and weakened across the coast late evening. Eastern Naval Command officer CG Raju further announced deploying naval helicopters and aircraft to undertake an aerial survey for relief and rescue operations.

Aftermath

According to official reports, electric poles and trees were uprooted disrupting power supply in some 20 places including Visakhapatnam. Spare poles were kept ready and local rescue teams cleared the roads and debris in 15 areas. Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (PR&RD) teams took to clearing drains and roads in various villages. Pre-emptive efforts by the state government have minimised destruction to life and property, said CEO of Real Time Governance Standee (RTGS) Babu Ahamed. 

During the course of the day, the cyclone claimed the life of one
Durga Rao in Vijaywada owing to landslides. Krishna district collector B Lakshmi Kantham announced an immediate relief of of Rs 50,000 to the deceased’s family.

The cyclone also forced 20,000 more to evacuate to relief camps in East Godavari district. Air traffic to the port city of Visakhapatnam suffered a blow owing to turbulent weather conditions, as some flights were diverted to Hyderabad. Trains along the South Central route were also delayed or cancelled. Schools and colleges in the coastal districts declared a holiday as a precautionary measure. 

Rescue and rehabilitation

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also on high alert along with the Coast Guard. 16 teams of Andhra Pradesh Disaster Response and Fire Services were on standby at Rajamahendravaram, while 9 others were stationed for road clearance in West Godavari district, where 
Deputy Chief Minister (Home ) N China Rajappa himself is camping to oversee relief and rescue operations, PTI reported.

Other states

The IMD also suspended all fishing operations along and off the state coast on Monday. It further put out a notice forbidding fishermen to venture into deep sea off Andra, north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts till the end of the day. 

Mild to heavy rainfall hit the neighbouring states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal as well as the Gangetic plain.

Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius

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