SRIKAKULAM/VIJAYAWADA: People in Srikakulam and other two north coastal districts — Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram — heaved a sigh of relief, with extreme severe cyclonic storm Fani sparing them and moving towards southern Odisha coast.
However, under the influence of the cyclone, moderate to heavy rains lashed northern mandals of Srikakulam district. Some areas in Sompeta, Srikakulam and Kanchili mandals received around 19 cm of rains with high-velocity winds on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. But, since Friday morning, there were no rains in all the three coastal districts.
In Ichchapuram, which borders Odisha, winds at 140 kmph were registered and in some parts of Uddanam region, several coconut and palm trees were uprooted. Branches of the trees fell on the interior roads and NDRF and fire service personnel, deployed in the district as a precautionary measure, cleared them.
District collector J Niwas said that there were no casualties and damage was minimal. He said several electric poles in Kanchili, Kaviti, Sompeta, Ichchapuram and Palasa mandals were uprooted due to gales.
“As many as 2,000 staff of Electricity department are engaged in restoration works and we expect to restore power to 70-80 per cent of the affected areas by Friday night. Superintending engineer-level officials in each mandal are supervising the restoration works. Power connectivity to rest of the district has been restored. As a precautionary measure, power connectivity was disconnected on Thursday night,” he explained.
In the report submitted to the State government, district collector put the losses at Rs 38.43 crore in the district. As many as 162 houses were damaged, 12 sheep and nine cows were killed. Horticulture crop loss in 406 hectares was pegged at Rs 4.09 crore. Infrastructure damage in Palasa and Srikakulam municipalities was pegged at Rs 2.12 crore.
Energy department sustained losses to the tune of Rs 9.75 crore.
Around 20,000 people, who were evacuated from vulnerable locations and housed in 252 relief centres set up in the district, started returning home since Friday morning itself.
On the other hand, the Irrigation officials are in touch with their Odisha counterparts to monitor flood-levels in Nagavali, Vamsadhara, Mahendra Tanaya and Bahuda rivers. On Thursday, as a precautionary measure, all the 24 gates of Gotta Barrage on Vamsadhara river in Hiramandalam was opened, but on Friday morning, with no inflows or rains in the upper catchment areas, 18 gates were closed and water is being released from the remaining six gates.
According to officials, only when the flood levels cross one lakh cusecs mark, will the first warning of floods be issued. However, to be on the safe side, all the officials in the riverside mandals were put on alert.
In Vizianagaram district, not much damage to infrastructure and houses were reported. The horticulture crop (banana) losses in 326 hectares of land was pegged at Rs 5.08 crore.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who took stock of the situation later in the day, told newsmen that 2,129 electric poles and 218 cell towers in 12 mandals were damaged.