Heavy rains and gales disrupted transport and toppled power and communication lines Thursday along India's south-eastern coast as Cyclone Laila neared shore., according to dpa. The storm was likely to make landfall late Thursday in Andhra Pradesh state in the centre of India's eastern seaboard, the Indian Metereological Department said. The centre of the storm lay 70 kilometres out to sea, south of the port town of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the department said. But the state's coast, 350 kilometres east of the state capital, Hyderabad, might not face the full strength of the storm. "The system is showing signs of weakening due to increase of wind shear and land interaction," the department said in a bulletin. Nearly 50,000 people living in low-lying areas in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Tamil Nadu state have been evacuated. The regional weather office has forecast rainfall of 25 centimetres and above, accompanied by winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour when the cyclone hits land. The storm surge was expected to hit more than 800 villages in six coastal districts, including Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, and West and East Godavari. Laila was causing considerable damage in Nellore and Krishna even before it hit land. Hundreds of villages were without electricity as the gales damaged power lines. Trains and flights in coastal Andhra Pradesh were cancelled Thursday. At least 10 people had been killed in storm-related incidents, including lightning strikes and wall collapses, since Tuesday night, the IANS news agency reported. Twenty-five fishermen were also reported missing. Armed forces have been asked to help the civil administration in rescue efforts, Andhra Pradesh Information Minister Geeta Reddy told reporters. Cyclones often form over the Bay of Bengal from April to November, bringing widespread destruction and flooding to India's southern and eastern coasts.
