At least 23 persons were killed and three others missing as cyclone Laila wreaked havoc in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh.
According to an official communiqu issued by the state Disaster Management Department, seven persons were killed in Krishna district, five in Prakasam, four each in Guntur and Nellore, two in East Godavari and one in Visakhapatnam.
Two persons from Krishna district and one from East Godavari were reported missing, it said.
According to latest estimates, crops suffered extensive damage in 11,351 hectares and horticulture crops in 7,949 hectares.
As many as 172 houses were totally damaged and 265 suffered partial damage in the cyclonic storm.
As many as 365 cattle, including 60 milch cattle, were killed in rain-related incidents.
Five minor irrigation tanks suffered damage -- 3 in Prakasam and one each in Nellore and Chittoor districts.
In East Godavari, Chagalnadu lift irrigation project canal suffered a seven-metre breach leading to inundation of nearby fields.
Brackish water culture ponds in 72 hectares and fresh water culture ponds in 181.20 hectares got inundated, mostly in Prakasam district, causing a loss of over Rs 6 crore as per preliminary estimates.
17 teams are being deployed in Prakasam district, which bore the brunt of Laila, to enumerate the losses, official sources here said.
Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao said Chief Minister K Rosaiah might undertake an aerial survey of the cyclone-hit areas of Prakasam and Guntur districts tomorrow, weather permitting.
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 further weakened into a deep depression and lay centred over the north coastal area about 50 km north of Machilipatnam. PTI
