HYDERABAD, India, 1 November 2006 — Incessant rains under the influence of a depression continued to batter coastal Andhra Pradesh state for the third consecutive day yesterday and the death toll mounted to nine.
According to a spokesman of the Disaster Management Department, three deaths each were reported from the badly affected Prakasam and Guntur districts and one each in East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts of the southern Indian state. Close to 50,000 people were living in 161 relief camps.
According to preliminary estimates, 1,206 houses were fully damaged and 1,834 partially damaged in the rains. State authorities are still assessing damages to crops as well as public infrastructure such as irrigation tanks, roads and power installations.
Hyderabad Meteorological Center Director M. Satya Kumar said that though the depression had weakened, heavy rains were continuing in Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari districts.
