Natural Disasters

Hudhud death toll mounts to 35

Almost 250,000 people affected; more than 144,000 hectares of crop damaged

 
By M Suchitra
Published: Thursday 16 October 2014

Torrential rains brought by Sunday’s cyclone disrupted power and communication lines in all affected districts

The death toll in Hudhud-related incidents in the three northern Andhra districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam rose to 35 on Wednesday, four days after the cyclone made landfall.

In a status report on relief, rehabilitation and damage, commissioner for disaster management A R Sukumar has said that nine cases are yet to be confirmed. While 25 deaths were reported from Visakhapatnam district, eight deaths were reported from Vizianagaram and two from Srikakulam districts.

The total number of people affected by Cyclone Hudhud is estimated at 248,004, including 60,000 families across 320 villages in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and East Godavari districts

Crops planted over 144,174 hectares have been damaged and the expected production loss is 230,206 tonnes.

Power has not been restored yet

Personnel from the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Production & Distribution Company (APEPDC), Power Grid Corporation and the Andhra Pradesh Power Transmission Company (APTransco) are working round-the-clock to restore power in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. The three districts have been without electricity since the cyclone hit on October 12.

Andhra Pradesh Energy Secretary Ajay Jain said that 20 per cent of the work has been completed in Visakhapatnam city while only eight to 12 per cent has been completed in the remaining districts. The staff aims to charge major substations in the next 48 hours and restore connections to 2.2 million affected consumers in the next four to five days.


Cyclone Hudhud: Realtime IMD tracker, News, Government Action Plan, Policies, Twitter feeds along with global disaster tracker

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