Thousands evacuated, 23 dead as Intense storm lashes India
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Thousands evacuated, 23 dead as Intense storm lashes India*
01 Nov 2006 14:33:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
HYDERABAD, India, Nov 1 (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed and
more than 100,000 evacuated from their homes as heavy rains and strong
winds lashed Andhra Pradesh state in southern India on Wednesday for the
third straight day, officials said.
Cyclonic storm Ogni had hovered over the Bay of Bengal for two days
before hitting the mainland on Monday, where it flooded towns and
villages and cut power supplies leaving thousands of households in darkness.
Most of those killed were workers in paddy and shrimp farms in the
southeastern districts of Prakasam and Guntur where some 400 villages
and 15 towns were submerged, disaster management officials said.
Some were killed in house collapses or when trees and electric poles
fell on them. Others were drowned.
Residents said thousands of people in some waterlogged villages had been
forced to take refuge on rooftops.
"We are waiting for food and water packets since last night," C. Subba
Rao, one resident, told Reuters by phone.
Weather officials said cyclonic conditions in the region would persist
for at least another day.
"Rains and cold winds will continue to lash the coastal districts for
another 24 hours," said Sathya Kumar, director of the meteorological
centre in the state capital, Hyderabad.