TIRUPATI/NELLORE: Though Cyclonic Thane moved away from Andhra Pradesh and made a landfall on Tamil Nadu coast on Friday morning, it caused damage in the south coastal districts of the state.Normal life in Nellore, Chittoor and Prakasam districts was affected with incessant rains.The meteorology department issued a heavy rainfall warning predicting isolated heavy rain over Nellore and Chittoor districts over the next 24 hours.There was isolated heavy rainfall in Gudur division of Nellore district with the highest rainfall of 70 mm being recorded at Saidapuram.Gudur, Sulurpeta, Tada and Doravari Satram mandals of the district also received heavy rains. In Tirupati, the overnight drizzling intensified into incessant rain since morning, affecting normal life in the pilgrim town.KVB Puram recorded the highest rain of 78 mm, followed by Vardaipalem (66 mm) and Satyavedu (47 mm). However, there was no loss of human or animal life due to the torrential rains.Rain at Venkatagiri, Udayagiri and Seetahramapuram in Nellore district during last 24 hours has damaged blackgram crop in upland areas of those mandals.Officials say the losses could be estimated once the rains abate completely.They feel the rains would help standing paddy crop, but cautioned farmers against water stagnation in fields.There were complaints from fishermen hamlets in the district about damage to boats and fishing nets. Sand bags have been put on standby as 60 irrigation tanks are filled to the brim due to rains.In Chittoor district, 20 Indiramma houses at Gopalamitta of Karvetinagaram were damaged as rains lashed the district since Thursday. No crop damage has been reported in Chittoor division so far. Irrigation authorities opened one gate of Krishnapuram reservoir after the inflow increased. Damage to crops was reported in Buchi Naidu Kandriga, Nagalapuram and Renigunta mandals in Chittoor district. In all, paddy in 64 hectares, groundnut in 120 hectares and 40 hectares of banana plantation suffered damage, according to officials sources.With the rains expected to continue till Friday night, officials at mandal level are put on maximum alert.As a precautionary measure, irrigation official opened all the 10 gates of Kalangi dam after the water level reached its FRL of 190 ft.Thanks to rains, 500 tanks in Chittoor district were full while another 322 tanks are also expected to be full with water if the inflow continuous for a day or two.Schools remained closed while flight operations at Tirupati airport were suspended due to poor visibility.Housing Corporation managing director Neerajkumar Prasad, who has been deputed as Tirupati division special officer, could not reach Tirupati due to cancellation of flight services.People in two hamlets--Vattipalem and Chennaiagunta in Thottambedu mandal--were shifted to safe places after rain water entered their huts.In Prakasam district, sea water surged forward by a few metres even as strong gales coupled with cold weather disrupted normal life. Similarly, the sea came forward by about 200 metres at Antarvedi in East Godavari district causing severe damage to the beach road. Strong tidal waves damaged boats and nets in many shore area.
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