Rivers and raging currents have cut off roads in some places. PTI
Amaravati:
Downpours of up to 20 centimeters in three Rayalaseema districts and a southern coastal district in Andhra Pradesh killed at least eight people today.
Twelve people are still reported missing in Kadapa district. Officers of the Indian Air Force, SDRF and Fire Department rescued dozens of people affected by flash floods.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Prime Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy by phone, inquired about the situation and promised to help the state.
The minister will conduct an aerial survey of flooded districts tomorrow, the CMO said in a statement.
Rivers and rapids have caused a cataclysm in the counties, cutting off roads in some places and making life less practical.
In many places, roads turned into canals, washing away vehicles.
Although Tirupati International Airport at Renigunta was reopened to flight operations today, the two ghat roads to Tirumala Hills remain closed.
Stairs leading to Tirumala from Alipiri were badly damaged by landslides and floods, shutting down pilgrims who frequently walk through the hills.
The minister asked Tirumala officials Tirupati Devasthanam to arrange free accommodation and food for pilgrims stuck in the Hills.
In Rajampet constituency in Kadapa district, at least five people were killed in flash floods at Cheyyeru slide while 12 others are still missing.
Kadapa collector Vijaya Rama Raju told PTI that eight people in the district were killed in the flood.
The bus driver of the State Road Transport Corporation and two other passengers encountered a flooded grave in Kadapa district when the vehicle overturned in the flood. Two other people in the bus were rescued, according to an official release.
In neighboring Anantapuramu district, 10 people trapped in the Chitravati River flood in Veldurthi village were rescued by Indian Air Force personnel who specially flew in from Yelahanka Air Force Station in Karnataka.
The IAF team carried out a Mi-17 helicopter movement to rescue 10 people trapped in a JCB.
JCB earlier in the afternoon went to rescue four people in a vehicle stuck in the Chitravati floods but, when the flood became threatening, six of them and the four passengers on board were trapped.
Anantapuramu district government sent an SOS to the IAF, after which the rescue operation was carried out successfully.
Officers from SDRF, police and the Fire Department rescued dozens of people from flooded areas in Kadapa and Chittoor counties.
In Kadapa district, 33 relief camps have been opened and 1,200 people are in them.
The Minister spoke to the Collectors of the flooded districts and asked them to step up rescue and relief measures.
South Central Railway said 11 passenger and express trains were cancelled, five were partially cancelled, 27 were diverted to other routes and one more was rescheduled due to flooding.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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