Cyclone Michaung wreaked large-scale devastation in Bapatla and Guntur districts on Tuesday, as it made landfall near the Bapatla coast on Tuesday.
Standing crops in a large swathe of land were inundated, while electricity supply was disrupted in many areas. Roads were waterlogged in several places, bringing transport to a halt.
Some incidents of wall collapse were reported from a few places while there were reports of a temple caving in due to the heavy rain. However, no casualties were reported so far, with the district administration relocating people from 111 villages to rescue shelters.
Personnel from the Discoms, SDRF, NDRF, police, fire, Revenue and other department staff were engaged in rescue operations across Bapatla district.
The district has received rainfall of more than 1,461 mm up to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, on account of the severe cyclonic storm. The highest rainfall was registered at Santhamaguluru (142 mm), followed by Karlapalem (121 mm), Ballikurava (110 mm) and Nizampatnam (102 mm). Other districts also experienced heavy to very heavy rains. The sudden downpour caused overflooding of the canals, inundation of ponds, standing crops, roads and even houses in some areas.
Bapatla Collector P. Ranjit Basha, Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal, Chirala MLA Karanam Balaram visited the cyclone-affected areas and interacted with the people at a rehabilitation centre arranged at Vodarevu. Mr. Basha said that they have arranged a total of 24 rehabilitation shelters in which 1,114 people were taking shelter. He said that the schools and colleges would remain closed on December 6 (Wednesday) in the district.
Reacting to reports of uprooted trees and electric poles, and disconnected electric wires and damaged roads, Mr. Basha directed officials to restore normalcy on a war-footing.
The Collector instructed officials to enumerate the damage within 48 hours of the cyclone crossing the coast. He instructed officials to repair the damaged roads, irrigation canals, and ensure drinking water supply without delay.
Minister for Social Welfare Merugu Nagarjuna distributed essential groceries to the families whose houses were inundated at Ambedkar Nagar in Vemuru mandal. He interacted with the farmers at Pedapudi village in Amarthaluru mandal, where the paddy and other crops both standing and harvested were inundated.
Crop damage was reported at Krapa village of Kollur mandal. Degaramudi Vagu and Rajugaripalem Vagu overflowed at Martur mandal.
Officials said they removed uprooted trees along Guntur-Chirala road, Chunduru Palli, Repalle and other areas. Electricity officials were engaged in restoring the 11 KV Agraharam feeder, which broke down at Bapatla flyover bridge. Fallen electric wires were cleared at Addanki – Dharmavaram road in Addanki mandal.
Officials relocated 27 persons, who were living in thatched houses at Mahalakshmi colony in Chinnaganjam village, to a shelter in Chinnaganjam.
TDP Parchur MLA Yeluri Sambasiva Rao urged the State government to enumerate the crop and livestock loss quickly and compensate farmers accordingly.
Guntur Collector M. Venugopal Reddy and Palnadu Collector Siva Sankar Lotheti also asked officials to enumerate the loss of crop and cattle in the district without delay.
