The remnants of severe cyclonic storm Montha, which crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast late Tuesday night, triggered a deluge in several districts of Telangana on Wednesday. The heavy rains threw normal life out of gear, severely disrupting road and rail traffic.
Extremely heavy rainfall since early Wednesday inundated low-lying areas, submerged roads and railway tracks, and caused extensive crop damage.
Overflowing rivulets, lakes, and streams cut off road connectivity at multiple locations. Railway tracks at Warangal and Dornakal stations were submerged, forcing the cancellation and diversion of several trains.
Warangal, Hanamkonda, Mulugu, Mahabubabad, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Nalgonda, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Sircilla, and Nagarkurnool districts received extremely heavy rainfall.
Bheemdevarapalle in Hanamkonda district recorded the highest rainfall of 41.9 cm between 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. According to the Telangana Development Planning Society, 35 locations recorded rainfall exceeding 20.5 cm, while 68 places received more than 11.5 cm.
Kallada in Warangal district recorded 36.7 cm of rainfall, followed by 34.3 cm in Urus and 33.9 cm in Redlawada of the same district. Dharmasagar in Hanamkonda received 33.28 cm.
The IMD issued a red alert for Jangaon, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Mahabubabad, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Karimnagar, and Sircilla districts, and an orange alert for Adilabad, Nirmal, Asifabad, Mancherial, Jagtiyal, Peddapalli, and Bhupalapally districts.
According to the IMD, after crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast, Cyclone Montha weakened into a deep depression over north Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas of south Odisha, south Chhattisgarh, and northeast Telangana. It later weakened further into a depression over south Chhattisgarh and nearby regions.
Authorities in Warangal district declared a holiday for all educational institutions. Due to the flooding of railway tracks at Warangal station, the Vijayawada Intercity Express and East Coast Express were halted.
Similarly, flooding at Dornakal railway station in Mahabubabad district disrupted train movement, prompting South Central Railway to cancel or divert several services.
In Hanamkonda, the main bus station turned into a virtual lake, while roads across the town were flooded due to overflowing stormwater drains.
A DCM vehicle with its driver was washed away in floodwaters in Khammam district. The vehicle was swept away in the Nimmavagu stream near Janaram bridge in Konijarla mandal.
In Vikarabad district, locals rescued a man who was swept away in the Kagna river near Veerishettypally in Tandur mandal.
In Nalgonda district, police and other department personnel rescued 500 students from a government-run residential school trapped in floodwaters. The Tribal Welfare Boys’ Residential School in Kommapalli village of Devarakonda mandal was submerged by water overflowing from a nearby stream.
In view of the heavy rains, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy instructed the entire administration to remain on high alert. He directed district officials to evacuate families residing in low-lying areas and shift them to relief camps.
The State Irrigation Department was asked to closely monitor water levels in all projects, reservoirs, and other water bodies. The Chief Minister also directed that district collectors be alerted before releasing water from overflowing bodies and that sandbags be kept ready where reservoirs are brimming with heavy inflows.
With Hyderabad witnessing continuous heavy rainfall, CM Revanth Reddy ordered civic authorities to deploy disaster management teams for rescue operations in inundated areas.
The SDRF and NDRF teams were instructed to carry out coordinated rescue operations in rain-affected districts under the supervision of district collectors.
(IANS)