india

Updated: Oct 23, 2019 22:04 IST

Heavy rain lashing the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh for the past two days claimed two lives in West Godavari district on Wednesday, as the low-pressure area prevailing in Bay of Bengal turned into a deep depression in the morning and is likely to cross the coast late in the night.

Peddireddy Raghavamma (60) and Siripurapu Srinu (40) died when a wall of their house collapsed on them at Narayanapuram village of Unguturu block. “Srinu was restoring the roof of the house which was damaged in the heavy rains last night, when the wall of the house collapsed on both of them and they were buried alive in the debris,” Unguturu police said.

A weather bulletin from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday morning said very heavy rain occurred at isolated places in East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and heavy rain occurred at isolated places in West Godavari and Yanam of Puducherry.

Amalapuram in East Godavari district received a maximum rain of 16 cm in a span of 24 hours till Wednesday morning, while Visakhapatnam received 13 cm, Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam 12 cm, Kalingapatnam in Srikalulam 12 cm and Yelamanchili in Visakhapatnam 10 cm.

According to a bulletin from the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) which is monitoring the weather from the state secretariat in Amaravati, the low pressure over Bay of Bengal turned into a deep depression causing heavy rain in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

“The depression will be crossing the coast between Tallarevu and Kakinada in East Godavari district by night. Under its influence, there will be gales with speed up to 70 kmph coupled with heavy rains,” the RTGS bulletin said.

The IMD issued a red alert till 8.30 am of October 25 for the state’s coastal belt.

“Heavy to very heavy rainfall will occur in isolated places in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari districts, besides Yanam and parts of Rayalaseema,” the bulletin said.

The Cyclone Warning Centre in Visakhapatnam has also issued an alert, warning fishermen against venturing into the sea.