DHAKA: The severity of destruction caused by Cyclone Hudhud emerged a day after it ravaged coastal Andhra Pradesh with human fatalities reaching a grim 22 on Monday.
Some 15 people were killed in Visakhapatnam, six in Vizianagaram and one in Srikakulam, said government spokesman Parakala Prabhakar, adding that more than 6,600 houses were destroyed and 1,780 animals had perished, reports TOI.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will survey the cyclone-affected districts on Tuesday from air after meeting chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam in the afternoon.
Trees, electricity and telephone poles have been flattened all over.
Hospitals are packed with people seeking refuge and essentials like food and water, apart from a sliver of power to charge their mobile phones.
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu appealed to retailers to charge only MRP as the vendors have been charging high prices for milk and other essential commodities.
A10-litre can of drinking water sold for Rs 2,500 even as petrol pumps rationed one litre per customer.
One Krishna Rao of Maddilapalem said, “Shopkeepers have increased prices. Overnight the cost of milk has shot up to Rs 60-80 per litre.”
Meanwhile, shoplifting also have risen in the cyclone affected area.
As communication networks struggled to get back online in the face of power outage, many areas went without connectivity for the second day running.
Sources said it might take a couple of days for power supply to be restored, prolonging the agony for the people of Vizag.
Autorickshaws also have been charging high.
“It costs Rs 20 to go from Chinawaltair to Siripuram or Rs 7 in a shared auto. But I had to pay Rs 40 for the same ride today,” said one Janardhan Reddy.
As stocks of diesel dried up and petrol grew scarce, a large number of vehicles, especially two-wheelers, were stranded on the NH-16 due to the fuel shortage as only 30 of the 50-odd bunks in the city remained open and they too restricted sale to a litre per motorist.
As a majority of the commercial buildings located in areas such as Asilmetta, Sampath Vinayaka temple Road, Maddilapalem and Muralinagar were damaged by gusty winds on Sunday, many reports of shop-lifters running riot under the cover of darkness have come to light on Monday.
According to a resident of Dwarakanagar, several people ventured into a mall at RTC Complex-Railway Station Road and took away a large number of items including food packets, groceries and even costly electronic goods such as LED TVs.
BDST: 0921 HRS, OCT 14, 2014
