No Respite From Rains for Andhra Pradesh

The heavy rains will continue in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, as sections of the region continued to see heavy deluge on Tuesday, while a possible low pressure area in the Andaman Sea may strengthen and bring further rains to the state by December 3-4. 

 Nellore district experienced rains for the fourth day in a row on Tuesday as a result of a low-pressure region. Floods in the Pambaleru river slowed traffic on National Highway 16, which connects Nellore and Chennai, between Gudur and Manubolu. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped on each side of the route when the water overflowed on the highway.   The road was also swamped by overflowing water from a tank at Manubolu. The tank was filled with water from the Kandaleru dam.

The Nellore area, which is still suffering from the damage caused by previous rains and floods, has been inundated with torrential rains since Sunday night. People in certain areas of the district are still facing problems as a result of overflowing rivers, reservoirs, and tanks. Seetharamapuram and Vinjamur in Nellore district received 11 and 9 cm of rain, respectively, in the previous 24 hours. Veligandla in the Prakasam district received 10 cm of rain, while Porumamilla in the YSR Kadapa district received 9 cm. Meanwhile, further rains are expected for coastal Andhra Pradesh as a low pressure region forms over the Andaman Sea. The low pressure system may build into a cyclonic storm over the central Bay of Bengal around December 3, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

According to the IMD "A low pressure system was forming over southern Thailand and its surroundings about 08.30 a.m. IST today.  It is expected to enter the Andaman Sea during the next 12 hours. Following that, it is expected to travel west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression over the southeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal by December 2, before intensifying into a cyclonic storm over the central Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours. It is expected to continue northwestward, develop further, and approach the north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha beaches around December 4 am."
Light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to commence over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha from the evening /night of December 3.

On December 4, the IMD predicts light to moderate rain in most places, with heavy to very heavy rain and extremely heavy rain in isolated places over coastal Odisha, and heavy to very heavy rain in isolated places over adjoining interior districts of Odisha, coastal districts of West Bengal, and north coastal Andhra Pradesh. Squally winds of 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph are expected to begin along and off the North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast from midnight on December 3 and gradually rise to 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph by December 4 afternoon during the next 12 hours.

From November 13 to November 20, a depression in the Bay of Bengal caused severe to very heavy rainfall across south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. Heavy rains and floods caused chaos in the districts of Nellore, Chittoor, Kadapa, and Anantapur, killing at least 40 people. Officials say 25 people have gone missing. The rainstorm impacted 1,402 villages in 196 mandals and four cities. The cost of agricultural damage and infrastructure damage is expected to be more than Rs. 6,000 crore.