Landslides, fallen trees, empty streets: Cyclone Montha batters Andhra, Odisha

Cyclone Montha tore through coastal Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday evening, bringing with it heavy rain, howling winds, and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. A woman was killed after a tree fell on her house in Konaseema district, while thousands were displaced as torrential downpours flooded roads and uprooted trees across southern Andhra and parts of neighbouring Odisha.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the landfall process began around 7 pm, when Montha crossed the coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada.

Wind speeds touched 80-90 kmph, gusting up to 110 kmph. Nellore district recorded the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday, the IMD said.

At Makanagudem village in Konaseema, a palmyra tree uprooted by fierce gales crashed onto a home, killing an elderly woman instantly.

Streets in Vijayawada and Kakinada were deserted as pounding rain and storm surges lashed the cities through the night.

In Visakhapatnam, images showed roads blocked by fallen trees and an auto-rickshaw crushed under debris.

Along the city’s beach, waves dumped heaps of debris and tons of garbage, leaving the shore buried under plastic waste.

Andhra Pradesh Police personnel were seen clearing roads and restoring traffic in Epurupalem, Vetapalem and nearby areas.

The storm flattened vast swathes of farmland. Preliminary estimates indicate that standing crops over 38,000 hectares and horticultural crops on 1.38 lakh hectares were destroyed.

Authorities evacuated nearly 76,000 people to safer locations and set up 219 medical camps in coastal districts.

The IMD forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam until Wednesday, warning of extremely heavy showers exceeding 20 cm at isolated spots.

The cyclone’s impact extended into Odisha, where heavy rain triggered landslides and damaged homes in at least 15 districts.

Officials reported uprooted trees and blocked roads in the southern districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam.

In Gajapati’s Anaka Gram Panchayat, large boulders rolled down hills, cutting off five villages.

"The area was earlier identified as landslide-prone. Arrangements are being made for early clearance," said local panchayat official Balakrushna Mallick.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said Odisha had escaped major damage.

“Barring some stray cases of landslides and tree felling, there has been no major incident even after three hours of landfall,” Majhi told reporters after reviewing the situation from the state disaster control room.

As Cyclone Montha weakened inland, both Andhra Pradesh and Odisha braced for continued heavy rain and restoration efforts in its wake.

- Ends

With PTI inputs

Tune In