Two cyclones hit Andhra Pradesh between October 28 and November 3, leaving coastal livelihoods in tatters. Violent gales and heavy rain uprooted over 1,00,000 coconut trees and wiped out paddy fields across lakhs of acres. Many farmers and fishing communities got hit hard as their boats and crops fell to destruction.
For generations, coconut trees have been more than just crops for the people in the coastal districts of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema, and West Godavari. They have been their livelihood. However, two cyclones that hit the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh within the span of a week have left the coconut growers, farmers and fishing communities in the region staring down the barrel as thousands of coconut trees were flattened, lakhs of acres of paddy fields were wiped out, and dozens of boats became dysfunctional. Konaseema district has witnessed the swath of destruction, with over 73,500 coconut trees uprooted and paddy destroyed across 1,18,109 acres, leaving around 88,000 farmers in tatters. Meanwhile, in West Godavari district, 27,397 coconut trees were destroyed, affecting more than 5,000 small and marginal growers.
Andhra Pradesh was ravaged by two cyclones between October 28 and November 3. One was a ‘Very Severe’ Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) Arnab and the other, a ‘Severe’ Cyclonic Storm (SCS) Murasu, leaving the districts of West Godavari, Konaseema, and Bapatla in ruins, while Guntur, East Godavari and Palnadu were also affected, according to the A.P. State Disaster Management Authority. Coastal areas in two districts of West Godavari and Konaseema were ravaged by violent gales of around 150 kmph at the time of Arnab’s landfall on October 28 and 29, and suffered once again when extremely heavy rainfall pounded the districts on November 3 and 4 after Murasu made landfall near Ongole.