At least 61 people were killed and over 800 went missing when tidal waves, triggered by a powerful earthquake in Indonesia, swept across nine coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday leaving a trail of destruction even as Army helicopters were pressed into service to assist in rescue operations.
Krishna district bore the brunt accounting for 24 deaths, followed by Prakasam 23, Nellore 7, West Godavari 6 and Guntur one, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy said here soon after returning from aerial survey of the worst-affected areas.
Earlier in the day, Revenue Minister D Prasada Rao said the death toll was likely to go up as several fishermen were still missing in Prakasam, Krishna, East Godavari and Nellore districts.
The Chief Minister announced Rs one lakh ex-gratia to the families of the dead and 25 kgs of rice to affected families.
As flash floods wrecked havoc across the coastal belt, over 14,000 families had been evacuated from vulnerable low-lying areas and a massive search operation launched to locate the missing fishermen on the high seas.
Though officials at SHAR were tightlipped about the extent of damage caused to the equipment, district administration sources said, the water had reached the control station at the Centre, located about three kms from the coastline.
{{/usCountry}}Though officials at SHAR were tightlipped about the extent of damage caused to the equipment, district administration sources said, the water had reached the control station at the Centre, located about three kms from the coastline.
{{/usCountry}}"However, the staff quarters are safe and there is no damage," the sources said.
Three helicopters, two from Chennai and one from Hyderabad, were pressed into service to assist the district administration in evacuating people from low-lying areas all along the coastline, the Revenue Minister said.
While local television channels said 30 bodies had been recovered from the beach, the Chief Minister put the death toll at 24.
Seven persons, including three children, were swept away by flash floods at Pottisubbaiahpalem village in Prakasam district while Krishna, Nellore, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts suffered massive damages with fishermen colonies bearing the brunt of the Nature's fury.
Tidal waves first lashed Andhra coast at 9.00 am, which inflicted maximum damage, and three more after-shocks followed later triggering tidal waves leaping up to three metres, official sources said.
The state government has set up a centralised control room at the Secretariat here, manned by four senior IAS officials apart from Revenue officials, to keep a close watch on the situation.
Three IAS officials have been appointed special officers to co-ordinate rescue and relief operations in Krishna, Guntur and Nellore districts.