THE very severe cyclonic storm Hudhud inflicted serious damage to the coastal city of Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as it made landfall at Kailasagiri on the outskirts of the city at 11:30 am on October 12. It also seriously affected the north coastal districts of the state along with few coastal areas in Odisha. The prior warning by the Cyclone Warning Division of India Meteorological Department and its exact prediction of path of the cyclone reduced the loss of lives to 35 persons. With gale winds reaching a speed of over 195 kmph, the city of 20 lakh people bore the maximum brunt of the storm. Hoardings and tin roofs and even boulders flew in the air. Windows were smashed leaving the streets littered with glass shreds. So severe were the gale winds that even statues lay toppled in many places. Scores of electricity and telephone poles were knocked down and thousands of trees uprooted as the winds and rain kept lashing the city through the day and night of Sunday. The entire power supply network as also telephone networks were damaged. Roads along the coast were severely damaged as also railway lines. Initial estimates of damage to infrastructure and crops varied between Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore. Crops, in about 1.82 lakh hectares, are believed to be damaged. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu made an aerial survey of affected areas on October 14 and announced an interim relief of Rs 1000 crore to Andhra Pradesh to take up immediate relief work. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to those killed due to the cyclone devastation. The chief minister is camping in the district to personally supervise the relief effort. However, on the ground, people of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam continued to suffer with meager relief supplies and lack of restoration of power and water supply. In some places, there were fights over getting hold of relief material. With power restored to only about 5000 consumers, some estimate that it may take around two weeks for complete restoration of power supply to 20 lakh consumers in Vizag. With essential supplies scarce, profit-mongers jacked up prices of all items – water, milk, medicines – to almost ten times the normal rates. Although the chief minister has publicly warned that such persons will be jailed if caught, this practice is continuing unabated. The CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh state committee has given a call to its cadre to plunge into relief activity. Party state secretary P Madhu led the relief work in Vizag along with cadre by removing the debris and fallen trees from the streets. In some places, Party cadre distributed relief material pouring in from other districts. Tribals in the agency areas of the district are suffering as the relief work is yet to reach them. All links have broken as there were many landslips in the mountainous region. The government is yet to air drop supplies and relief material to these people. The entire attention of the government machinery is focused on Vizag city. The CPI(M) and tribal unions have demanded immediate relief measures to the suffering tribals. The major public sector unit in the city, the Vizag Steel Plant (VSP) has taken a big hit due to the cyclone. All its operations have shut down and it is estimated that it may take at least three months before they are restarted. There are reports that since the management did not shut down the plant in advance, there is severe problem in the steel melting shop as the steel is set to solidify due to lack of power. In that case the melting shop will have to be rebuilt. The Vizag airport, especially its terminal area, has also suffered extensive damage due to the cyclone as also the Port and other industrial units in the city. Efforts are on to restore services. The Road Transport Corporation has resumed its bus services. (INN)