Titli pounds AP: 4,000 evacuated, 196 villages in Srikakulam hit

VISAKHAPATNAM: Cyclone Titli left a trail of destruction in Srikakulam and several other parts of AP and Odisha on Thursday. Over 4,500 people including 3,000 from Srikakulam and 1,500 from Vizianagaram were evacuated to safer places. A total of 196 villages in 12 mandals in Srikakulam district took the brunt of the cyclonic storm. The road network in Srikakulam suffered extensive damage, while the power distribution network was also severely affected.More than 2,000 electric poles were uprooted by strong winds.
While a 62-year-old woman died at Gudivada Agraharam village after a tree fell on her, a 55-year-old man died in a house collapse at Rotanasa village in Srikakulam district, the AP State Disaster Management Authority said. The AP CMO said the other six killed were fishermen who had ventured into the sea.

No major damages were reported from Vizianagaram district. While 1.39 lakh acres of crops were damaged in Srikakulam, it was 4,000 acres in Vizianagaram.
“Except minor damages to nearly 4,000 acres of crops, no major damages were reported from Vizianagaram district,” district collector Hari Jawaharlal told TOI. Power supply to nearly 89.12 lakh households in 4,677 villages was disrupted from Wednesday night to Thursday morning. A 132 kv sub-station, which caters to Tekkali and surrounding areas, was completely destroyed.
Traffic on National Highway-16 (Chennai-Kolkata) on the Srikakulam-Palasa stretch came to a halt after the uprooted trees blocked some sections of the highway. In Tekkali, empty containers of nearly 30 trucks were seen lying on the road.
The cyclone has also caused severe damage to railway property. Railway tracks were damaged from Srikakulam to Icchapuram. Railway stations at Palasa, Naupada and Kotabommali were severely damaged, while Mandasa, Icchapuram and Tilaru stations were hit partially. The railways refunded nearly Rs 50 lakh to passengers due to cancellation of trains on the Chennai-Howrah main line from Wednesday night to Thursday night.
Waltair divisional railway manager MS Mathur said teams including track specialists, bridge engineers, overhead electricity engineers are on the spot carrying out repairs between Brahmapur-Palasa and Palasa-Kotabommali.