Nellore, Chittoor devastated, rains move north

Hyderabad, Dec 3: After devastating Nellore and Chittoor districts, rains moved north toward Prakasham district late last night, reports said. This shift brought respite to Nellore and Chittoor districts. Large parts of the two devastated districts continue to be flooded with swollen rivulets that are being fed following fresh inflows from the catchment areas. Meanwhile, several towns in Prakasam district received heavy rains with the southern regions receiving at least 115.4 mm lashing. In Nellore district, at least 10 mandals received more than 40 cm of rainfall. Five gates at Rallapadu irrigation project were raised to release 9,000 cusecs of water, and as a result several villages were inundated due to streams swelling quickly. In Nellore, Kaivalya, Kalangi, Pambaleru and Swarnamukhi are still in fury. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed in boats to shift people to safer places from along the river banks. APSRTC buses are not plying from Nellore and Chennai on account of the unprecedented floods in north Tamil Nadu.