The Armed Forces have swung in to action to extend a helping hand to the civil administration in dealing with the situation emerging out of Cyclone Laila. With the severe storm crossing the coast, the Indian Army has moved three columns, each comprising 96 men, including doctors, from Hyderabad to the coastal districts.
The Indian Meteorological Department said though Cyclone Laila has weakened, the danger is not over yet as there were signs of it re-emerging in northern Bay of Bengal over the weekend.
MA fields were producing around 32,000-33,000 barrels of oil per day and 8 million standard cubic meters per day of gas.
Even as a furious tropical cyclonic storm 'Laila' in the Bay of Bengal was gusting forward, the Andhra Pradesh coast has started experiencing gale winds and heavy rains.
Threat of any further destruction by Laila in coastal Andhra Pradesh dissipated on Friday as the cyclonic storm gradually weakened into severe depression and then into depression over coastal Andhra Pradesh. According to the latest press release of Indian Meteorological Department, it lay centered about 100 km west of Kakinada.
Cyclonic storm Laila finally struck the Andhra coast 50 km north of Bapatla town of Guntur district on Thursday afternoon.
The name 'Laila' which means dark-haired beauty or night in Persian was suggested by Pakistan to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) which is tasked by the World Meteorological Organisation to track and name cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean, an IMD official said.
Coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh which bore the brunt of cyclone Laila received an average of about two inches of rainfall per hour, according to data collected by a NASA satellite.
Coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh which bore the brunt of cyclone Laila received an average of about two inches of rainfall per hour, according to data collected by a NASA satellite.
Heavy rain in coastal Andhra Pradesh in the wake of Cyclone Laila has paralysed industrial activity in the state, including closure of oil rigs in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. Cargo handling at ports also suffered due to the incessant rain.
Here is a list of previous cyclones that have struck the country.
Heavy rains battered the coastal areas of north Tamil Nadu on Wednesday as cyclone 'Laila' further intensified and moved to lay centered in the Bay of Bengal around 190 km east-northeast of Chennai and is expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast on Thursday.
Cyclone Laila batters Andhra Pradesh. Images.
With the cyclonic storm "Laila", formed in the Bay of Bengal further intensifying into a severe cyclonic storm and the outer periphery of the system reaching very close to Andhra coast, authorities have started evacuating people from low-lying areas in the region to safer places. At least eight people died and 19 fishermen were missing in different rain-related incidents in the state on Tuesday.
As many as 71,000 people continued to be in 300 relief camps in six coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh even as the cyclonic storm 'Laila' further weakened into a deep depression and lay centred over the north coastal area about 50 km north of Machilipatnam.
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