Hyderabad/Chennai: Nearly 30,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday from low-lying areas in coastal Andhra Pradesh as cyclone Laila packing wind speed of 125 kmph is said to slam the state as also Tamil Nadu where heavy rains and gales threw normal life out of gear.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on phone and requisitioned the armed forces to help the civil administration in rescue efforts as the Met department warned of six-foot high tidal waves and disruption of communication and power supplies.
Three persons were killed when a shed collapsed in a village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh while a fisherman drowned in rough sea in Tamil Nadu as the two states were lashed by heavy rains under the influence of Laila which lay centred 200-km from Machhlipatnam expected to be the landfall point of the cyclone.
(Read: Gearing up for Cyclone Laila)Authorities moved hundreds of residents of 777 villages in four coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh to schools and government buildings for temporary shelter and alerted the emergency teams.
The coastal regions of Andhra, including Guntur, Nellore, Prakasam, East and West Godavari districts experienced heavy rains throughout Wednesday under the influence of the storm.
Warning number 10 (high state of alert) has been issued to all major ports in Andhra Pradesh and Reliance Industries suspended crude oil and gas production from its Krishna Godavari basin MA fields in the Bay of Bengal as a precautionary measure.
Normal life was thrown into disarray in several parts of Tamil Nadu as widespread rains and strong winds, triggered by Laila, lashed these areas.
People waded through knee-deep water as many parts of Chennai and its suburbs were inundated with road traffic moving at snail's peace.
Gales uprooted trees at many places while over 140 anchored boats were damaged by strong winds.
Coastal areas of Chennai, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur were lashed by heavy rains since Wednesday night.
Four fishermen were injured when five boats capsized in Cuddalore district, officials said.
The cyclonic storm is likely to trigger heavy rains at some places in south and north Orissa on Thursday.
Weathermen also predicted heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal from tomorrow evening.
West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said an alert has been sounded in the metropolis and the districts of East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia.
Rosaiah apprised the Prime Minister of the steps taken by the state government to prevent loss of lives and property.
He called on Governor E S L Narasimhan and explained him about the rescue operations. He also spoke to leaders of political parties and sought their cooperation in rescue operations.
State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister D Prasada Rao told reporters after a review meeting with Chief Minister late tonight that the entire government machinery was geared up to tackle the "severe" situation.