Hudhud races toward Vishakhapatnam, coast on alert

Visakhapatnam/Rajahmundry/Srikakulam: As Cyclone Hudhud  is inching closer toward Vizag coast, massive evacuation has begun and holidays have been declared for schools and colleges.

Hudhud is now 470 km off Vizag coast and has intensified into Very  Severe Cyclone on Friday evening. NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission satellite indicated that the storm is getting  stronger and more organised.

It is being strongly predicted that the storm crosses North Andhra Coast close  to Visakhapatnam on Sunday morning. 

Apart from heavy rainfall, squally winds also will start from  Saturday evening in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and southern parts of  Odisha state.

Deputy chief minister N. Chinna Rajappa said that nearly 4.56 lakh people from 500 coastal villages in 63  mandals of six districts from Srikakulam to West Godavari will be evacuated.

The Dy Chief Minister N. Chinna Rajappa said they would be shifted to  safer places and will be accommodated in 392 relief camps. 

Authorities in all the five coastal districts, Vizag, Vizianagaram,  Srikakulam, West and East Godavari are making arrangements to evacuate the people from vulnerable areas  along the coast to safety.  

Essential commodities are stocked up at important places and a close watch is  being kept on canals and drains to bridge any possible breaches in case of heavy downpour.  

By Friday evening many areas in North Andhra districts have started experiencing rainfall and  thundershowers. Heavy rainfall and gusting winds are expected to start from Saturday morning, according  to Met Department.

Heavy rainfall would occur in all the five coastal districts. The wind speed would  gradually increase to 130-140 kmph gusting to 155 kmph on Sunday  morning.  In Vizag district, administration has braced for Hudhud.

NDRF teams, Army, Navy and other disaster  response forces are being deployed to face the tough situation during landfall.  District collector N. Yuvaraj,  interacting with media on Friday, said they had put the administration on high alert at all vulnerable mandals from Bheemili to Payakaraopet keeping in view of storm surge at low lying areas.  

He said they had identified 57 areas  at risk and  around 30,000-35,000 people would be shifted to safer  places since the places are close to coast.  Yuvaraj said 40 relief camps have been planned for supporting  the  people and had started shifting food material, milk, medicines, and   kerosene to these centres from  Friday.

Fifteen teams of Navy, NDRF forces and other state level disaster response forces would be positioned at  various locations by Saturday evening to take  up relief measures during and after landfall of the cyclone.  

Senior official said they had received 14 satellite phones for all  three districts that include six for  Visakhapatnam and VHF sets of police would also be utilised when communication disturbs.  

In East Godavari, authorities identified 13 mandals from Tuni to Sakhinetipalli located along the coast to be  affected and efforts are on to evacuate about 52,000 people to 72 relief centres.

East Godavari Collector  Neethu Kumari Prasad advised the people to stay put at home from Sunday noon and asked the  petty  vendors not carry out any business during that time.  

In West Godavari, the authorities identified 31 villages from Mogaltur, Yalamanchali, Kalla, Narasapuram  and Bhimavaram mandals to be affected and efforts are on to evacuate them to relief camps based on the  need. Many trains were either cancelled or diverted on Saturday and Sunday due to impending danger of cyclone .