A group of seven fishermen from Woolapalem village in Prakasam district, who were stranded at sea under the impact of cyclone Mandous, were rescued by the police on Sunday, December 11. The fishermen who had ventured into the sea almost a week ago were rescued at around 2 pm. Search teams comprising local and marine police and the villagers were formed to rescue the fishermen on Saturday.
Speaking to TNM, Kothapalem Sub-Inspector Madhu Sudhan said, “They could not reach the shore because of the high tides. After we rescued them, we brought them to Kothapatnam beach and later dropped them off at their village. All of them are well.”
Meanwhile, the cyclone has claimed one life in Darjipalli village of Kadapa district, after a wall collapsed. Over 1,000 people have been lodged in relief camps following heavy rainfall under the influence of cyclone Mandous, which has particularly affected the southern districts of the state.
The districts of Sri Potti Sriramulu (SPSR) Nellore and Tirupati districts are on alert due to the possibility of flash floods. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heavy rainfall warning for the districts of Prakasam and Nellore. The list of vulnerable mandals and villages has been sent to the district administrations for taking necessary precautionary measures, according to a government status report as of 8.30 am on Sunday, December 11.
According to the estimates, a total of 4,647.4 hectares of agriculture and 532.68 hectares of horticulture crops were damaged due to rains while 170 houses were destroyed. As many as 140 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and 95 personnel from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel have been deployed in four districts to be pressed into service in case of any eventuality.
IMD in its press release on Sunday said that the depression had turned into a low-pressure area (remnant of the cyclonic storm Mandous) over north interior Tamil Nadu and adjoining south interior Karnataka and north Kerala has become less marked. The state is likely to receive rainfall for the next three days under the cyclone’s impact.
Cyclone alert messages have been sent through the common alert protocol (CAP) to over one crore subscribers spread across the six districts, which are likely to be affected due to heavy rains in the coming days.