As floods recede, more bodies surface in Andhra; toll mounts to 45

According to a status note released by the state government, 6.44 lakh people in seven districts were affected by the heavy rains and relief camps

Amaravati: The death toll in Andhra Pradesh floods rose to 45 with authorities reporting 12 more deaths. Ten of the latest fatalities were reported from Vijayawada and two from Eluru district. The toll is mounting as bodies are being recovered with receding flood water in areas affected by last week’s heavy rains and floods.

According to officials, one person is still reported missing. NTR district accounted for 35 deaths. Almost all these deaths were reported from Vijayawada. Seven people died in the Guntur district, two in the Eluru district and one person in the Palnadu district.

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According to a status note released by the state government, 6.44 lakh people in seven districts were affected by the heavy rains and relief camps. A total of 48,528 people were shifted to 246 relief camps. In the NTR district alone, 2.76 lakh people were affected. Out of 97 relief camps, 61 have been closed. A total of 2.37 lakh people were affected in Krishna district.

The authorities closed eight out of 52 shelters. In the flood-affected areas, 26 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 22 teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and two teams of the Navy were deployed. A total of 23 NDRF teams,18 SDRF teams and two teams of the Navy were in Vijayawada only.

Four helicopters from the Indian Air Force and two from the Navy were deployed for airdropping food items and airlifting people stranded in inundated areas. The choppers airlifted 21 people stranded in flood-affected areas. Officials said 208 boats (174 motorised and 34 non-motorised) were arranged to evacuate people from inundated areas.

According to the status note, agriculture crops over more than 1.81 lakh hectares were damaged in 20 districts. As many as 2,05,194 farmers were affected. The rains and floods also damaged horticulture crops over 19,686 hectares. A total of 30,877 farmers were affected in 12 districts.