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hudhud.txt
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hudhud.txt
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NEW DELHI—A massive cyclone lashed coastal areas of southern India Sunday morning with winds of up to 112 miles an hour and torrential rain, killing at least six people and uprooting trees, damaging houses and crops and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
The storm, dubbed Hudhud, hit the coast at Kailasagiri near the port city of Visakhapatnam in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh about 11:30 a.m., authorities said. The cyclone is expected to trigger storm surges of up to five feet and inundate the low-lying coastal areas of the state.
Meteorologists said the cyclone was “very severe.” Wind speeds peaked at about 121 miles an hour but by evening had dropped to about 81 miles an hour, said Laxman Singh Rathore, director-general of the Meteorological Department. He said the storm system would weaken further overnight.
The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababa Naidu, said “the extent of damage would only become clear in a day or two” after the storm subsides. “At least 70% of communication has totally collapsed,” he said during a press conference Sunday evening.
Three people were killed in coastal Andhra Pradesh Sunday, according to the state’s disaster management department. One was hit by a collapsing wall and two others by falling trees, authorities said Sunday.
Three other people were killed in the neighboring state of Orissa, according to P.K. Mohapatra, the state’s special relief commissioner
The impact of the storm was expected to be less in Orissa, where wind speeds would hover about 50 miles an hour.
Torrential rainfall and high winds are expected to damage power and telecom lines. To avoid a breakdown in communication, authorities in Andhra Pradesh have been equipped with satellite phones.
“We are fully prepared to deal with the cyclone,” K. Hymavathi, special commissioner for disaster management in Andhra Pradesh, said Sunday.
Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are among India’s top rice producers. While thousands of hectares of rice paddy get destroyed in cyclones every year, cyclone Hudhud will be hitting India in the middle of harvest season.
In India, about five cyclones develop over the north of the Indian Ocean every year shortly before or after the June-to-September monsoon season.
Last year the massive cyclone Phailin, which hit the eastern coast with 137-miles an hour winds and heavy rains, killed at least 20 people and left a massive trail of destruction. Early warnings and mass evacuations had, however, minimized casualties.
This time too, government officials said they were prepared and managed to evacuate more than 400,000 people from coastal areas in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to cyclone relief centers on higher grounds ahead of the cyclone.
At least 17 coast guard ships, nine aircraft and 44 teams of the National Disaster Response Force—with more than 2,000 rescuers—have been deployed for rescue and relief operations, the Home Ministry said Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised “all possible assistance in relief and rescue operations,” his office said in a statement Sunday.