Vizag, Torn Apart by Cyclone Hudhud, Will Have to be Entirely Rebuilt, Say Relief Officials

Visakhapatnam: Vizag needs to be entirely rebuilt, said a senior official of the National Disaster Relief Force or NDRF on Monday, a day after Cyclone Hudhud slammed into the Andhra Pradesh coast with wind speeds touching 200 kmph, bringing heavy rain and tearing down the port city. While Vizag bore the major brunt of the cyclone, seven people have died in state and neighbouring Odisha.

As assessment of damage caused by the cyclone begins, S S Guleria, Deputy Inspector General of NDRF, estimated that about 70 to 80 per cent of Vishakhapatnam or Vizag were destroyed. Many people have lost their homes and so cyclone relief centres will continue to run for now.

There is no electricity in Vizag and telephone lines are down too. Late on Saturday, power supply was switched off as precaution, and the storm later knocked down the network. Hundreds of electricity poles and towers were damaged across Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts.

The Visakhapatnam airport is closed, with damage to the roof and water logging reported. Restoration of services, officials said, will take time.

There has been no rain in Vizag this morning and roads that were blocked by the trees and hoardings uprooted by the cyclone are being cleared, including the highway to Vijaywada. Rail services are expected to be restored by late Monday afternoon.

Critical installations are safe. The Indian Navy said both runways at its Vizag air station, INS Dega, will be fit for flying by 2.30 this afternoon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this morning that he will visit Visakhapatnam or Vizag, which bore the brunt of the cyclone's fury, on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is expected to be in the city today.
 
Vizag woke up this morning to find the streets littered with fallen trees, banners ripped out, broken statues of leaders and many telephone and electricity poles down.

Residents complained that they couldn't walk on the roads to fetch essential supplies. 

A full assessment of the damage is yet to be done; the government said yesterday that even radars in the state have been damaged. A P 8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, based near Chennai, will carry out damage assessment of the coastal areas hit by the cyclone, the Navy said.