NELLORE/VIJAYAWADA: Under the impact of depression in the Bay of Bengal, heavy rains lashed parts of Nellore and Chittoor district since the early hours of Thursday.
District administrations of Chittoor and Nellore have announced holidays to all educational institutions on Thursday keeping the cyclone alert in view. Both district administrations have canceled all leaves to all officials and instructed them to be on duties until further orders. Coastal mandals of Nellore district were put on high alert.
Overflowing of Mamidi canal and river Kalangi resulted in flooding of roads in Kolkata-Chennai National Highway 16 disrupting the vehicular movement for some time close to Sullurpeta. SPDCL announced control room numbers in Nellore, Chittoor, and Kadapa to monitor restoration works and control power supply position. SPDCL CMD H. Harinatha Rao directed the staff to be alert and restore the power supply on a war footing basis without any delay.
Coastal areas of Nellore district including Sullurpeta, Doravarisatram, Chittamur, Chillakur, Vakadu, Indukurpet, Kodavaluru, Vidavaluru, Alluru, Kavali areas experiencing heavy rainfall. Collector KVN Chakradhar Babu is monitoring the situation and instructed officials to be on alert and shift the people residing in low-lying areas to safer places. Krishnapatnam port hoisted the flag denoting 'Signal 1' cyclone warning.
Road connectivity to many rural areas in the Gudur revenue division was disconnected due to the overflowing of Kommaleru and Kandaleru canals due to heavy downpour. Fishermen anchored their boats across the coastal areas as the IMD has issued a warning against any fishing activity in the Nellore district. The power supply was disrupted in many parts of the Sullurpeta division on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile moderate rainfall with high-velocity winds lashing Tirupati since morning. A few trees in Bhavani Nagar, Old Maternity Hospital Road, Reservoir Road in the temple town were uprooted, disrupting vehicular movement. Residents of Madhura Nagar in the tow are facing trouble with knee-deep rainwater. Other parts of Chittoor and the neighboring Kadapa district are also experiencing light to moderate rains.
In view of heavy rains, Yogi Vemana University has postponed the second-semester exams of undergraduate courses scheduled to be held today and tomorrow. Fresh dates of exams will be announced later. Overcast conditions with drizzle in some parts are reported in Prasaksam, Guntur, and Krishna districts.