A.P. officials told to be alert as red alerts to continue till October 23 morning

A day after heavy rain pounded many parts of Rayalaseema and South Coastal Andhra Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Amaravati, said that the red alert for SPSR Nellore, Prakasam, YSR Kadapa, Annamayya and Tirupati district would be in place till 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.

Orange alerts issued for Chittoor, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai and Bapatla districts will be valid till Thursday morning, it said.

According to the IMD bulletin issued at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal is likely to move across north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts in the next 24 hours.

Under its influence, the districts for which red and orange alerts have been issued are likely to witness very heavy rain in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to continue in SPSR Nellore and Tirupati on Thursday, while other places in Rayalaseema may receive moderate to heavy rainfall.

In view of the forecast, Minister of Home and Disaster Management V. Anitha held a video conference with the Collectors of vulnerable districts on Wednesday and instructed them to keep manpower available at field level to handle any emergency situation.

Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been stationed in SPSR Nellore, Prakasam, YSR Kadapa and Tirupati districts. She instructed the officials to shift the people living in dilapidated structures to safety. Round-the-clock control rooms should be operated, she said.

On Wednesday, many places received not more than 90 mm till 7 p.m. According to realtime rainfall information available with the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Marripadu in Nellore district received the highest of 89.5 mm.

According to IMD, between 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday and 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday, Srikalahasti in Tirupati district received the day’s highest of 190 mm.

Other places that recorded high rainfall were: Kodur in YSR Kadapa district (180 mm), Thottambedu in Tirupati district (180 mm), Atmakur in SPSR Nellore district (150 mm), Sullurpeta in Tirupati district (140 mm), Venkatagiri in Tirupati district (130 mm), Kandakur of SPSR Nellore district and Gudur and Tirupati (all recorded 110 mm). Many other places in Rayalaseema and South Coastal A.P. received below 100 mm rainfall during the 24 hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

More rain till Oct. 28

Meanwhile, the IMD said that there would be ‘enhanced rainfall activity’ in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh from October 22 to 28.

From October 24 to 28, there is a rainfall forecast for the entire State. Strong wind, thunderstorms and lightning are also likely to occur in the State for the next five days. However, no orange or red warnings have been issued yet.