VIJAYAWADA: Heavy rains continue to pound various parts of Nellore and Chittoor districts with cyclone Vardah categorised as ‘very severe’ making landfall at Chennai. High velocity winds uprooted trees and electricity poles in different parts of Chittoor and Nellore.
The wind impact was such that an oil tanker on NH 16 at Sullurpet flipped over spilling the oil onto the road. The driver lost control of the vehicle. Locals alerted the officials who rushed to the spot.
Meanwhile, CISF, NDRF and SHAR personnel are stepping up their efforts to rescue fishermen from Tamil Nadu. Out of the 18 fishermen, eight got rescued and efforts are on to rescue the rest. The fishermen reportedly ventured out into the sea two days ago.
On the other hand, 9,450 people from villages in the coastal mandals of Nellore district including Sullurpet, Tada, Vakadu, Chittamuru are being shifted to safer places for rehabilitation.
Water release from Somasila dam to North Feeder canal and Sangam canal was stopped with irrigation department officials closely monitoring the situation. The condition of sea is very rough and the waves with height of 17 feet are making their presence felt at Kavali and Mypadu in Indukurpet mandals of the district. Sea levels have risen by 10 to 13 meters at some places in the district. Two fishing boats got washed away in the sea at Nawabpet, but there were no reports of fishermen in them at the time of incident.
With rains lashing Nellore, several localities in low lying areas got inundated. According to officials at 1 p.m. on Monday, 39.2 mm rain was received in Sullurpet, 38.2 mm in Tada, DV Satram in 33.4 mm, 26.4 mm in Pellakur mandal. Several places in Venkatagiri, Naidupet and other parts of the district have no power supply.
Normal life in eastern mandals of Chittoor was thrown out of gear, with heavy rains lashing. Around a dozen trees and electric poles were uprooted in the district. Half of Tirupati has no power. District officials are closely monitoring the situation. Rains were also reported from southern mandals of Prakasam district and eastern mandals of Kadapa district.