Cyclone Hudhud: Visakhapatnam Worst Hit, Heavier Rain to Follow, Says Met Department

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New Delhi, Oct 12, 2014 (NDTV): Rain stopped for a brief spell as the eye of Cyclone Hudhud crossed over Visakhapatnam a little after noon on Sunday. The Met department said there would be a brief lull of about an hour before heavy rain would resume, bringing with it "great damage potential."

Relief and rescue operations in Visakhapatnam, also called Vizag, would be critical in the next few hours, when the second wall cloud hit and heavy rainfall resumed, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) official LS Rathore said at a press conference soon after the cyclone made landfall.

 

Hudhud hit coast with a wind speed of about 170-180 kmph, gusting to 195 kmph. The official said after crossing the coast the cyclone would begin losing wind speed and in six hours would weaken to be categorised as a cyclonic storm. In 12 hours it would become a depression. This means that by this evening wind speeds will have reduced by half.

The Met department assesses that air traffic in the region should resume by Monday morning as the wind speeds would have diminished considerably by then. Air services have been suspended in the region and many trains have been canceled today. 

The Met department has said Vizag will bear the brunt of Hudhud, which will now move north and then north east. It has rained heavily in the district and in neighbouring coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh all morning and the very heavy rain will continue.

"The Visakhapatnam situation is very serious," K Hymavathi, the special commissioner for disaster management for Andhra Pradesh told Reuters by telephone. "Telecommunications are disrupted - even our control room is not able to operate properly. People staying in their apartments are so afraid that they are panicking and calling us," she said, confirming that Hudhud had made landfall..

Fallen trees and wreckage are strewn across the streets of Vizag. Most people heeded warnings to take refuge, but two men who ventured out were killed - one by a falling tree, the other when a wall collapsed.

More than 300,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas.

The Met office said there will also be heavy rain over the next few days in coastal districts of south Odisha. And in parts of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.