AP rain fury: Toll mounts to 42, over 96,506 evacuated

Incessant rains continued to wreak havoc in Andhra Pradesh today, leaving 42 people dead, after which authorities shifted about a lakh of people to safer places so far.
Rains lashing the state for the last several days have caused losses to the tune of about Rs 1,868 crore as per preliminary estimates, AP Disaster Management Commissioner T Radha told PTI here.
Besides deaths of 42 people in various rain-related incidents like wall collapse, five persons went missing after heavy rains, an official statement said.
Authorities have set up 235 relief camps and shifted 96,506 people to safer places.
Standing crops in 7.99 lakh hectares were inundated and 1668 cattle perished due to heavy rains, which also damaged 21,760 houses.

The statement said that 1,020 minor irrigation tanks were breached and 4,047.50 km of roads and 1,060.8 km of panchayat roads suffered damages.

It said that 19 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed for rescue and relief operations.
Normal life has been paralysed in several parts of the state after a heavy downpour triggered by a low pressure area and the north east monsoon battered the state for the last five days.
Public transport has been badly affected, particularly in the coastal districts, after several trains were cancelled, partially cancelled, diverted or rescheduled.
Rain water has inundated low-lying areas in a number of towns and villages in several districts.

AP Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy plans to carry out an aerial survey and also visit rain-affected areas in Prakasam and Guntur districts besides reviewing rescue and relief operations from tomorrow morning, official sources said.