Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu today conducted an aerial survey to get first hand detail of the devastation caused by cyclonic storm 'Hudhud', while three more senior IPS officers were deputed to oversee relief and rescue operations in the affected areas.
Deputy Chief Minister N Chinna Rajappa, Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu and others accompanied Naidu.
The Chief Minister, who has decided to camp in this port city to oversee the relief operations, reviewed the situation today. He left for Visakhapatnam from Hyderabad last evening, hours after the "very severe" cyclonic storm hit the city, leaving behind a trail of devastation.
Naidu has asked his Cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats to rush to Visakhapatnam for providing expeditious relief to the victims of the cyclone.
According to the Disaster Management Department, six persons, including a baby, were killed in different rain- related incidents in the cyclone-hit districts of Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
Parakala Prabhakar, Advisor (Communications) to Andhra Government, told reporters in Hyderabad that about five lakh people, evacuated from vulnerable places, are being provided shelter and food in relief camps.
Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, Director General of Police Jasti Venkata Ramudu today asked police officials to restore communication network in the affected areas on a war footing.
The DGP, who held a review meeting, deputed three more senior IPS officers to oversee the relief and rescue efforts. They will be besides two Additional DGP rank officers, who were already supervising the relief works in Visakhapatnam.
The DGP said that permission has been granted for traffic flow on the National Highway between Icchapuram (Srikakulam) and Rajhmundry (East Godavari district), which was stopped due to the cyclone.
One Papi Reddy, from Anakapalli of Visakhapatnam, got stuck in a flooded stretch of road with his vehicle and he was rescued by police. A police team also rescued 25 passengers, who were travelling in a bus in Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam, after they were stranded in rising waters.
Another 16 persons stranded at different places in Visakhapatnam were saved by police, the meeting was informed.
Additional DGP (Law & Order) R P Thakur and Additional DG (Provision & Logistics) VSK Kaumudi, among others, attended the meet.
