While until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, many places in the State recorded less than 40 mm rainfall, the situation changed during night as the well-marked low pressure intensified into a depression at around 9.30 p.m., triggering very heavy rainfall in Tirupati and SPSR Nellore districts of Andhra Pradesh leaving all reservoirs brimming with water.
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S. Karunasagar, senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department(IMD), Amaravati, said many places in Tirupati and Nellore districts received very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sullurpeta gets 22 cm rain
As per the 24 hours rainfall data available with the IMD, taken from 8.30 a.m. on October 15 to the corresponding period on October 16, the day’s highest of 220 mm rainfall was recorded in Sullurpeta of Tirupati district, followed by Kavali in Nellore district at 180 mm, Nellore city (130 mm), Tada in Tirupati district (120 mm), Tirupati city (110 mm), Satyavedu in Tirupati district (100 mm), Porumamilla in YSR Kadapa district (90 mm), Srikalahasti in Tirupati district (80 mm) and Nagari in Chittoor district (80 mm).
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Crops in 5,417 ha hit
According to the status report prepared by the A.P. State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) on October 16, the worst affected district was SPSR Nellore where 12 villages in 10 mandals and 623 people have been affected. At present, 891 people have been shifted to relief camps in the three affected districts of Prakasam (214), SPSR Nellore (623) and Tirupati (54).
Agriculture fields in 10 districts spanning 5,417 hectares have been hit, the maximum of 2,517 ha being from Tirupati district, followed by Bapatla with 1,619 ha damaged. At least 261. 99 km road length in Chittoor, Annamayya, Anantapur, SPSR Nellore and Prakasam has been damaged.
Meanwhile, the depression, which formed on Tuesday night over southwest Bay of Bengal, moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph during the past six hours, according to a bulletin from the IMD at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
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The depression lay centered over the same region as of 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the bulletin, and it was at the time about 280 km east-southeast of Chennai, 320 km east of Puducherry and 370 km southeast of Nellore. It is likely to move west-northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-South Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Nellore, close to Chennai during early morning of October 17.
On Wednesday, the rainfall recorded in various places from 8.30 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the A.P. State Development Planning Society, is as follows: Pallam in Tirupati district (97.75 mm), Obulavaripalle in Annamayya district (81.25 mm), Redipalle in Annamayya district (80.5 mm), Karakambadi in Tirupati district (68.75 mm), among others. All other places in Rayalaseema and South Coastal A.P. received less than 70 mm of rainfall.
Meanwhile, the APSDMA said 61,756 fishermen returned from the sea as of Wednesday, while 624 fishermen with 78 boats, all in Visakhapatnam, are at the sea. The district administration and coast guard are making efforts to bring them back.
Yellow alert for today
A yellow alert has been issued for October 17, as heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places in Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Prakasam, Nellore, Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Satya Sai, YSR, Annamayya, Chittoor and Tirupati districts.