Cyclone 'Jawad': North coastal Andhra braces up; 11 teams of NDRF and three SDRF on standby

Amaravati, Dec 04: Eleven teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and three of the SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) have been positioned in the three north coastal Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam on Friday as the deep depression in Bay of Bengal turned into a cyclone 'Jawad'.

Also, six Coast Guard teams and 10 Marine police teams have been kept ready for emergency operations, according to Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma.

Though the storm is headed towards Odisha and likely to cross the coast near Puri, official machinery in the north coastal Andhra districts has remained on alert as moderate to very heavy rainfall with wind speed up to 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph is expected.

On Saturday, heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is forecast at isolated places in north coastal Andhra, according to a Met bulletin. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy held a video conference with Collectors of the three north coastal districts and also East and West Godavari districts on Friday evening and reviewed the situation.

State Disaster Management Authority Commissioner K Kanna Babu explained that flooding of roads, inundation, uprooting of trees and water-logging in low-lying areas and closure of underpasses mainly in urban areas were expected under the impact of the cyclonic storm.

Thatched houses could suffer major damage while vulnerable structures too faced danger. Control rooms have been opened in the districts for disaster response.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to open relief camps and shift people from vulnerable areas into them.

"Focus on prevention of human loss and relief measures wherever required," he told the Collectors. He asked the officials to inspect the condition of tank bunds and reservoirs and carry out emergency repairs at weak spots.

The Chief Secretary said 46,322 tonnes of rice, 1,018 tonnes of dal, 391 tonnes of sugar and 41,032 litres of edible oil have been dispatched to the north coastal districts.

Drinking water tankers and diesel power generators were also deployed in the districts. "We have made arrangements to shift 54,000 families to relief camps based on requirement," the Chief Secretary added.