An alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall has been sounded in districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram and in some parts of Odisha where the cyclone, which has claimed eight lives so far, had moved before heading to Chhattisgarh.

Over 2.48 lakh people in 320 villages of 44 mandals (blocks) have been affected by the cyclone in Andhra Pradesh. As many as 1,35,262 persons have been evacuated and accommodated in 223 relief camps.

It was a picture of destruction in Visakhapatnam, which bore the brunt of the cyclone fury, with hundreds of fallen trees, poles and other rubble blocking the roads as winds of almost 200 kmph tore away roofs and hoardings in the city, where the cyclone made landfall on Sunday.

"There is no power, no water or milk, no electricity. We are not getting petrol. We cannot move on the roads. It is difficult to survive a single day here," said a harried resident.

The cyclone has snapped water and power supply and communication links have collapsed in the affected areas. Most of the petrol pumps were closed due to the damage caused by the cyclone and those which had opened on Monday, saw people queueing up in large numbers.

Source: News in Hindi and Newspaper