Cyclone Montha Batters Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

Cyclone Montha made landfall near Kakinada on the Andhra Pradesh coast and battered Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with heavy rain and gusty winds, flooding villages, uprooting trees and damaging roads, farms and power infrastructure. Andhra Pradesh’s early statewide losses are estimated at about Rs 5,265 crore, with the farm, fisheries and roads sectors hit hardest, while Telangana preliminarily estimated around Rs 10,000 crore in damage affecting roughly 4.5 lakh acres of paddy and cotton. District surveys reported severe local damage — for example, Anakapalli saw about 2,000 hectares of crops and 100 hectares of horticulture damaged and Srikakulam reported losses on 2,230 hectares and 44 collapsed houses — and the Energy Department recorded damage to nearly 13,000 poles, 3,000 km of conductors and about 3,000 transformers. Officials reported few confirmed human casualties though some local media cited a small number of deaths and missing persons; authorities carried out evacuations, set up relief and medical camps, and deployed SDRF/NDRF teams with centralized crisis coordination from the chief minister’s office. The storm severely disrupted transport and services: South Central Railway cancelled or diverted more than 120 trains, instituted special bus services and increased patrols, while power-restoration crews of about 1,500 personnel were mobilized aiming to restore supply within 24–48 hours. State governments have promised relief measures including permanent housing, targeted compensation and pilot livelihood-support programs, and damage reports are being compiled for claims to the central government.