Srikakulam: Officials are apprehensive of the damage that Supercyclone Fani will wreak in Andhra Pradesh till sunrise on Friday as it heads towards the Odisha coast. Officials feared they may not be able to rush to the affected parts quickly in the dark.
Though rescue teams are meeting villagers and briefing them, there is a small fear about the difficulties they will face at night time.
“Imagine undertaking a rescue operation at night without power supply and with heavy rain. It is not that easy. There will be a lot of difference and needs heavy efforts to do rescue operations during night times when compared to day times,” said an official.
“There are many difficulties in doing a rescue at nights. Flash floods are a big worry. We are prepared and we hope everything goes well,” said additional director (fire services) P.V. Ramana.
There was, however, a bright spot. “One advantage during the night is that there will be no traffic over the roads in the villages and there might be no human loss due to tree fallings and others,” Mr Ramana said.
Nine teams of National Disaster Response Force, 10 of the State Disaster Response Force along with 44 fire department squads and three police teams were deployed across the district. More than 100 medical and 825 para-medical teams were kept ready.
The fire department has deployed 422 personnel along with six rescue boats. Apart from this, a rescue boat has been kept in Srikakulam as a standby and three more in Vizianagaram district.
Four road clearance teams were stationed alongside the highway at Kota Bommali, Tekkali, Palasa and Sompeta in Srikakulam district.
According to Chief Secretary L.V. Subra-manyam, the AP government is taking inputs and information from the IMD and the state’s RTGS centre to take precautionary measures.
The Indian Coast Guard has positioned 12 well-equipped teams at Kolkata, Frazerganj and Haldia in West Bengal for relief operations.
Four teams each at Par-adip and Gopalpur are also ready to offer immediate assistance.
In addition, eight teams have embarked onboard two of the frontline ships at Vizag and Chennai to render assistance at short notice. Two aircraft have also been kept ready for mobilisation of life-saving equipment.
