Srikakulam district in Andhra escapes Cyclone Fani fury

ICHCHAPURAM/KAVITI: The people of Srikakulam district heaved a sigh of relief on Monday morning after the district almost escaped the fury of the extremely severe cyclone Fani. It was earlier expected that the district may have to bear the brunt of the cyclone and the district officials geared up to tackle any contingency. But other than the heavy rains and gusty winds on Thursday night, no major losses were reported in the district by Friday noon.
The cyclone, which started crossing the coast at around 8am, completely moved into land by 10 am on Friday.As per the initial estimates, about 1,000 electric poles were uprooted due to the cyclone. The cyclone badly hit the mango and cashew plantation in several mandals near the Odisha border-including Ichchapuram, Kanchili, Vajrapukotturu, Mandasa, Palasa, Kaviti and Sompeta. The cyclone has caused thousands of trees to fall down in these mandals. Almost all small tanks in these mandals/villages have been filled with the heavy rains. The Discom personnel and NDRF personnel have been working to restore the power supply and clear the roads that were blocked due to uprooting of the trees.
Srikakulam district Collector J Nivas said that no major losses were reported in the district other than collapsing of a few kutcha houses due to heavy winds and rains on Thursday night. “We are constantly monitoring the situation as the heavy rains in Odisha may lead to flooding of Bahuda and Vamsadhra river. The cyclone relief works will continue till the conditions are restored to normalcy. We have provided generators to make sure that there is no impact of cyclone on the water supply schemes. We have been providing food through the cyclone relief centres to the victims,” said Nivas.
According to the official estimates, Ichchapuram received about 20 cm rainfall in the last 24 hours, followed by Sompeta 18 cm, Kanchili 19cm, etc. Ichchapuram witnessed the fury of the heavy winds as they gusted to about 140 kmph.