After Cyclone Montha, a trail of destruction in Andhra Pradesh

Hundreds of trees and electricity poles were uprooted, and roads and streets were inundated by heavy rain. The Cyclone Montha has destroyed more than 2 lakh hectares of standing crops and horticulture in 12 of the 26 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

According to government officials, important roads and state highways in the north coastal districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, and in some areas of Visakhapatnam and Araku Valley, have been damaged.

As cell phone towers have been affected and power supplies have been cut off, connectivity has been disrupted in many areas. However, officers said the police wireless system was working as they installed 81 temporary towers to relay signals.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was monitoring the situation from the Real Time Governance control room, said that once the wind speed comes down, teams will fly drones to assess flooded areas.

Hundreds of relief and rescue teams, including those of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), are out on the roads and streets in the districts clearing fallen trees and poles, and debris.

The Andhra Pradesh Government has ordered the free distribution of daily essentials to people in cyclone-affected areas. As part of the relief effort, each affected family will receive 50 kg of rice (for fishermen), 1 kg of lentils, 1 litre of cooking oil, 1 kg of onions, 1 kg of potatoes, and 1 kg of sugar.

The civil supplies commissioner has been instructed to start the distribution immediately, while the marketing commissioner will oversee the supply of vegetables and onions to ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential goods to cyclone-hit families.

Heavy rain in several Andhra districts

Initially, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that the cyclone would make landfall at Kakinada, but it entered the coast south of Kakinada. The Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest amount of rainfall on Tuesday.

The AP State Disaster Management Authority said early Wednesday that heavy rain was reported in the Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram, Manyam, Alluri Sitharama Raju, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, and Palnadu districts as the tail of the cyclone moved in. Kakinada, Konaseema, East Godavari, West Godavari, Prakasam, Nellore, Kurnool, Nandyal, and Anantapur districts are receiving moderate rainfall.

Except for emergency vehicles, the state government has suspended vehicle movement in the Krishna, Eluru, East Godavari, West Godavari, Kakinada, and Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema districts till 6 pm Wednesday.

Checkpoints have been established to discourage people from venturing out. Vehicular movement on the Chennai-Kolkata NH 16 has come to a halt, and vehicles will be allowed to ply from Thursday morning, officials said.

State transport and private bus services, as well as rail and air services, are likely to resume from Thursday.

Police and district administration officers said that, despite repeated warnings and messages, people were out on the streets capturing the effects of Cyclone Montha on their mobile phones and creating reels for social media. As part of the safety measure, the state government had sent out 3.6 crore alert messages to residents across the state.

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