Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh coast was hit by more than 45 cyclonic storms between 1970 and 2023 but nothing was more devastating than cyclone Hudhud in Oct 2014. The damage caused by Hudhud not only changed the landscape of Vizag city, but also made it the first coastal city in the country to be directly hit by a cyclone in several decades.
Cyclone Hudhud caused damage of an estimated Rs 21,000 crore, the highest by any cyclone in the last 50 years in Andhra Pradesh. As it made landfall in Visakhapatnam, the city’s infrastructure suffered severely on all fronts.
Speaking about Cyclone Hudhud, former director of Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) in Vizag, Sunanda M, said that it was for the first time that a cyclone of such a huge magnitude hit Vizag. She added that the devestation caused by the cyclone was felt even in neighbouring districts like Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
Cyclone Hudhud was categorized as an extremely severe cyclonic storm under category-4. Even cyclone Diviseema in 1977, which claimed lives of around 10,000 people, was classified under category-3. The high rate of deaths is attributed to the lack of preparedness.
Usually, cyclones that develop in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) hit the Odisha coast first, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. However, cyclone Hudhud erased the misconception that Vizag city was safe from cyclones.
Speaking about the impact of Cyclone Hudhud, M Laxman, a resident of Vizag’s Appughar locality said: “We lost everything in Hudhud as it made a landfall at Kailasagiri (close to my residence). I along with few others were injured by flying debris,” said Laxman. “We pray to god to keep us safe whenever we hear about a cyclone heading towards Vizag and Srikakulam coasts,” he added.
Meanwhile, the police and revenue department officials said that the destruction that cyclone Hudhud left on Visakhapatnam was extensive. The most important lesson that cyclone Hudhud taught us is to correctly interpret weather warnings and take them seriously.
The impact of cyclone Hudhud led many industrialists and businessmen to take comprehensive insurance polices as some big establishments in the city suffered huge losses.
Sharing her thoughts about IMD’s weather forecast abilities, Dr S Karuna Sagar, scientist at IMD-Amaravati, said that the improved forecast ability of IMD to predict cyclones and its impact beforehand has helped authorities in mitigating large-scale losses. Earlier, storm surge was the reason behind fatalities during cyclones, but now deaths are caused mostly by the collapse of some objects, Dr Karuna added.
GFX
Comprehensive measures
Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) was set up in Sept 1974 in Visakhapatnam
The number of doppler weather radars have gone up in India to 28
The number of automatic weather station increased to over 700 in India
CWC in Visakhapatnam has been issuing coastal weather bulletin
The IMD has developed many new models and tools from nowcasts to extending range forecast
Cyclone Hudhud in Oct 2014 left a trial of devastation in Vizag and north Andhra and claimed over 40 lives
Srikakulam region in north Andhra suffered a lot in the form of Cyclone Titli in October 2018
Floods, torrential rains and cyclones claimed 140 lives in nine years between 2014 and 2022 in AP
From the devastating cyclone Diviseema in 1977 and the ghastly Hudhud in 2014 to Titli in 2018, AP coast was hit by around 50 cyclones
