A cyclone that claimed seven lives and displaced thousands in south India had weakened, but was still bringing heavy rains in the region, officials said Saturday, according to dpa/ Cyclone Helen, with winds of around 90 kilometres per hour (km/h), moved in from the Bay of Bengal to make landfall near the city of Machillipatnam in Andhra Pradesh state Friday afternoon. Seven people were killed by collapsing houses and trees in the heavy downpour during the storm. More than 21,000 people from vulnerable coastal areas were evacuated to 93 camps, state disaster relief official VK Ekbote said. "The cyclone has weakened into a low pressure area, but many areas could face flooding, as weather officials forecast that heavy rains will continue till Sunday," Ekbote said. Twenty fishermen who went missing had been rescued by local agencies, he said. Nearly 400 houses and huts had been damaged, while 170,000 hectares of rice and other crops were damaged. The cyclone also knocked out power in 560 villages. Work was on to restore supplies, Ekbote said. The storm was significantly less intense than Cyclone Phailin, which hit India's Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states last month, with wind speeds of more than 200 km/h, claiming 40 lives. Cyclones often form over the Bay of Bengal, bringing widespread destruction and flooding to India's southern and eastern coasts.
