AP heaves a sigh of relief

​Vijayawada: The Vardah cyclone, which defied the logic of weather scientists and kept the AP and Tamil Nadu governments on tenterhooks over its course in the last couple of days, has finally had its landfall near Chennai at 2.55pm.

When the entire AP coast, barring a very few pockets in Nellore and the neighbouring Chittoor districts, heaved a sigh of relief after spending anxious moments, Chennai and the other parts of Tamil Nadu took the brunt of Vardah. No casualty was reported anywhere in Andhra Pradesh so for.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu geared the administration in Nellore, Chittoor and Kadapa districts on Monday through a teleconference to swing into relief and rehabilitation measures. Naidu has even lent a helping hand to the Tamil Nadu government in relief and rescue operations.

Going by the initial predictions by the cyclone warning centre at Visakhapatnam, the AP government was braced to handle the cyclone, expecting the storm to hit the coast somewhere between Machilipatnam and Tada.

Later, it changed its course towards Chennai after moving in a zigzag pattern. However, the sea was remained rough and choppy all through its course.

As a result, boats capsized near Tada in Nellore district and Bhairvavanipalem in East Godavari district.

An oil tanker overturned at the Holy Cross junction in Sullurpet. In all, 18 fishermen from TN went missing and only eight were rescued. Rescue operations continued for the remaining 10 people.

A tourist bus overturned, leaving six passengers injured at Anjimbedu under Yerpedu mandal in Chittoor district and an uprooted tree fell on a police jeep at Palamangalam in Chittoor district in which a Circle Inspector Mohan sustained injuries because of high-speed gales.

Traffic was disrupted on the highways at some locations in the two districts while power supply disrupted because of gales with a speed up to 60km per hour which uprooted trees and twisted electric poles out of shape.

Several villages in Sullurpet area and even Tirupati plunged into darkness since evening. Train services were diverted in the Gudur–Chennai sector following damage of railway track.

Nellore Collector Mutyala Raju said four teams from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) were deployed in the vulnerable areas for rescue operations.

According to Railway authorities, Garudari express and Sapthagiri Express services running from Chennai to Tirupati, besides a passenger train on the same route were suspended.

RTC authorities suspended all the bus services operating from Tirupati to Chennai, Tiruttani and Kanchipuram from noon.

The impact of the gales could be assessed with the roof of the airport at Renigunta ripped apart. Flight services remained cancelled except only one Jet airways which reached the airport unaffected in the morning.

Meanwhile, the cyclone that brought showers turned out to be a boon for the drought-hit Kadapa district on the borders of Nellore.

According to reports, the torrential rains kept recharging groundwater in areas like Rajampet, Railwaykodur and Rayachoti in the district.

The rains provided some silver lining to the farmers who suffered heavy losses due to withering of groundnut crop.