9 Dead As Rains Continue In Andhra, Floodwater Enters Houses In Telangana

Heavy rain continued in many parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Sunday for the second day in a row, causing severe water-logging in several areas, submerging houses and cars. Due to incessant rainfall, South Central Railway has cancelled over 20 trains and diverted over 30 in both the states due to heavy floods. 

In Andhra Pradesh, Ambapuram, Nainavaram, Nunna, and Pathapadu villages in Vijayawada Rural Mandal have been completely submerged. Police and NDRF teams have initiated rescue and relief operations, relocating affected residents to rehabilitation centers. 

The weather office issued a warning that cyclone "Asna," a deep depression over the Arabian Sea, is expected to move West-Northwest away from the Indian coast in the next 24 hours.

The depression over north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts been causing heavy rainfall in these two states over the past two days. It has moved northwestwards to cross the southern state's coast near Kalingapatnam in the early hours of Sunday, a India Meteorological Department official told news agency PTI. 

"Depression over South Odisha and adjoining South Chhattisgarh and north Andhra Pradesh abt 60 km southeast of Jagdalpur, 70 km northeast of Malkangiri. Likely to move across South Odisha, South Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha and weaken into Well Marked Low Pressure Area during next 24 hours," the weather office said in a post.

9 Dead in Andhra Rains

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the weather situation with senior officials today and asked them to incorporate technologies such as drones to assess the deluge and accordingly plan the relief works. Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said 13,227 people were evacuated from 294 villages in five districts, reported news agency PTI. 

"Until now nine people died due to the heavy rains. Police, NDRF and SDRF teams rescued 600 people from the marooned places. As many as 17 NDRF and SDRF teams undertook rescue operations at 22 submerged places in seven districts," Mr Anitha said in an official release.

In Andhra Pradesh's NTR district, passengers were stranded at the station since Saturday night after officials halted the Tamil Nadu Express due to heavy floods in Rayanapadu village. Authorities had to send passengers to Vijayawada via RTC buses in the morning.

However, when the flood situation did not improve, the railway staff brought passengers to the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway using tractors and JCBs from the station.

Heavy Rain In Telangana

Rain crippled normal life in Telangana as torrential rain lashed Hyderabad and other parts of the state, causing severe waterlogging. Following the heavy rains, rivulets were in spate in some districts and the floodwaters disrupted road links between villages.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy held an emergency review with ministers, officials and elected members to review the situation, reported news agency PTI. He directed the ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs to stay in their respective areas and take up relief operations.

In Telangana's Mahabubabad, a young scientist was found dead after being washed away in floodwaters. Dr Nunavath Ashwini was associated with the ICAR - National Institute of Biotic Stress Management's School of Crop Resistance System Research of Raipur. Search and rescue operations are underway to find her missing father. 

Meanwhile, work from home has been recommended for IT- sector employees in Telangana's Cyberabad in view of the continuous rainfall and red alert issued by the weather department.

In NagarKurnool, a policeman braved heavy rainfall and rescued a man who was washed away and trapped in Naganool creek. An RTC bus and a car were submerged in flood on road in Mahbubabad and with the help of JCB crane, the cops rescued the people trapped in the bus. 

Movement of traffic came to a halt on Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway as flood water submerged the highway near Suryapet in Telangana. Water from overflowing tanks inundated part of National Highway 65, bringing vehicular traffic to a halt.

Heavy rains have been lashing Nalgonda and Suryapet districts since Saturday, inundating low-lying areas and cutting off road links to some villages. Water from overflowing tanks and lakes entered residential areas in Huzurnagar and Kodad constituencies. Rainwater also entered houses in Khammam and Nalgonda districts.

More Rainfall Likely

Several places in Andhra Pradesh are expected to receive rainfall, including heavy rainfall in some places. Parts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, Parvatipuram Manyam, Alluri Sitarama Raju, Kakinada and Nandyala districts are likely to receive heavy rainfall, said an official release. For the following four days, isolated places in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam are expected to experience thunderstorms with lightning.

The met office has issued a red alert for 11 districts in Telangana. Extremely heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in these districts over the next 24 hours, the met office said on Sunday.

PM, Home Minister Take Stock

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and enquired about the situation in these states in the wake of heavy rains and floods. He assured all possible assistance from the Centre to overcome this challenge.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah spoke to them and took stock of situation in view of heavy rains and floods in both the states. He also assured the two chief ministers of all possible help from the Central government to deal with rains and floods.

Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a post on 'X', said he has informed Amit Shah about the severe situation in Telangana's Khammam.

Following Mr Shah's orders, nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been dispatched to Telangana, he said.