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Heavy downpour in several parts of Andhra Pradesh following a low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal has claimed the lives of 12 persons besides damaging 1,884 houses and crops in an extent of 250,000 hectares (ha).
While four persons had been washed away in flash floods in Prakasam district, eight others died at different places in wall collapses.
The state government said relief camps had been set up at 15 places across coastal Andhra where 4,611 persons, evacuated from low-lying areas, had been provided shelter.
Standing crops, mostly paddy ( in 107,000 ha), cotton (131,000 ha) , redgram (28,000 ha), maize (23,000 ha, chillies (9,636 ha) and vegetables (5,768 ha) had been damaged and several rivulets and water bodies at various places are in spate.
The meteorological department has predicted heavy downpour for two more days. The South Central Railway had either re-scheduled or cancelled the operation of several trains that pass through the coastal Andhra region.
The state government has put all its department on high alert. National Disaster Management Agency teams have been deployed at vulnerable places.
