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A day after being battered by Cyclone Hudhud which claimed five lives, the state government has shifted its focus from safety to restoration and relief even as it remains on alert given warnings of continuing heavy rainfall.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet is expected to be in Visakhapatnam as the government steps up its efforts from bring life back to normalcy in the Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.
According to the State's Revenue (Disaster Management) Department, five persons were killed - including a one-year-old baby P Naga Manoj -- in incidents of wall and roof collapses and uprooting of trees, which was pounded by rains and galeforce winds of up to 180 kmph.
Travel to the Vishakhapatnam remains diffcult, with railway lines being badly damaged and airport services affected.
The latest weather bulletin said Hudhud is currently centred close to south Chhattisgarh and adjoining southwest Odisha. It would move north-northwestwards and weaken gradually.
The cyclonic system is likely to generate rainfall at most places with heavy (6.5-12.4 cm) to very heavy (12.5-24.4 cm) over Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north Andhra Pradesh and some districts of south Odisha during the next 24 hours.
The government said that district officials, heads of departments and every government employee would be on duty for relief, restoration and rehabilitation works.
