Incessant rainfall brings Visakhapatnam to a halt

Rains cause flooding in Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, and Alluri Sitarama Raju districts, prompting school closures and traffic disruptions.

Rains lashed the three districts of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitarama Raju beginning late Thursday night.

Visakhapatnam district, which received comparatively lesser rainfall compared to its neighbouring districts in the past few days, saw continuous rainfall from the early hours of Friday. This prompted the district administration to declare a holiday for all schools for the day.

While Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli district authorities announced a closure of schools for one day on July 19, the ASR district administration announced that schools would remain closed for two days – July 19 and 20 — as a precautionary measure.

However, many parents expressed their annoyance over the “late announcement” of the decision, as many children had already left for school braving heavy rain.

“For the past few days, there was a rainfall warning from the IMD. The authorities could have announced the holiday in advance. We received the message from the schools at around 7.45 a.m. when I was already on my way to school to drop my child,” said M.S. Prasad from Arilova.

By morning, many low-lying areas in the city began reporting water-logging. Roads came under a sheet of water as drains overflowed. The road between the police barracks and the Old Post Office was inundated causing inconvenience to motorists, especially two-wheelers and auto-rickshaw drivers. Many remained indoors until the water receded, while office-goers had to choose alternative routes.

In some areas like NAD and Visalakshi Nagar, large trees came uprooted in the heavy rain, and fell on the main roads blocking traffic.