Visakhapatnam: Air, rail as well as road traffic came to a standstill in three districts of North Andhra Pradesh on Monday as Cyclone Phethai made landfall in Katrenikona of the East Godavari district. After facing severe problems during Cyclone Hudhud and Cyclone Titli, the district administration of the region had been on high alert to take preventive measures.
The stretch of National Highway-16 (formerly NH-5) was blocked with several trucks as the traffic police stopped these vehicles from moving towards the Anandapuram-Anakapalle road. According to ADCP (Traffic) M. Ramesh Kumar, the traffic was restricted from 12 noon to 5 pm.
“Anticipating landfall near Rajahmundry, we stopped heavy vehicles from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Vizag to go towards the East Godavari district. During Cyclone Titli also, we had stopped the vehicles but two trucks had met with accidents during that time. We have taken all necessary precautions to prevent such accidents this time,” he said.
Regular traffic was disturbed on the Tagarapuvalsa-Anandapuram stretch of NH-16 on Monday evening owing to the lengthy line of trucks. However, there were no uprooted trees on the highway. The power supply was interrupted partially.in the city due to the cyclonic winds.
Along with policemen, the officials of GVMC and other government departments were actively involved in the city rescue operations. No human casualty or cattle loss was reported in any part of the city. However, the bad weather halted transport services. Several people had to change their travel plans.
The South Central Railway has cancelled around 22 trains, while some trains were partially cancelled and the rest were rescheduled because of the cyclone. Similarly, almost 14 flights have also been cancelled and a few flights were diverted to Hyderabad from the city. Over 700 air passengers suffered at Vizag airport due to delayed flights.
