Flash floods claim 26 live in AP

Hyderabad, Oct 2:  Flood  waters  continued  to play havoc  with the  people  of  Andhra Pradesh claiming as many as 26  lives   when reports  last came in. Hundreds  of villages  were   inundated while   thousands  were marooned  and  shelterless.The worst  hit  town is Mantralayam  in Kurnool. The  rains in  the last  couple  of days    have  flooded  the  Krishna  and  Tungabahdra   rivers in the  state  which are  flowing  above  the   danger  mark.The  famous  Raghavendraswamy temple  in Mantralayam is  flooded  with waters and  even the bus  complex  of  Mantralayam is  submerged under water. Many  people  in the  villages  were  either  trapped  or  reported  missing which shows the gravity of  flood situation in the  state.Kurnool town was  affected  by  the  flood waters of  Srisailam  dam  while  Tungabhadra flood  waters  inundated  Mantralayam town.

It is  not only  the low level areas  in these place which are  submerged but  water level on  even  ground  has risen by   five  feet. Under such circumstances  people had  no other go  except  to reach the house tops  to keep them afloat.Many  villages and  towns   in the  districts Kurnool, Mahabubnagar,  Krishna  and  Guntur   were not accessible because of  the Floods. The  flood  situation continues  to be grim  following the news  that rivers  and  Krishna  and  Tungabhadra are in  spate.Chief  Minister K Rosaiah  who reviewed  the flood situation in the state  had a telwphonic talk with   Defence  Minister  A K Antony  and  requested for the  Army to  come  to the  rescue of  marooned  flood  victims.

According to the  sources  from Chief Minsiter’s office  the  Centre  responded  swiftly  to  CM’s  request  and  five troops of Army personnel have been   dispatched to flood affected  districts  of  Kurnool and Mahbubnagar . To assist  the  Army personnel  four  defence helicopters  have also been pressed into service  to carry out rescue and relief operations.