Southern India reels under heavy rains, IMD says no relief till November 23

Heavy rains continued to batter parts of southern India on Saturday as people struggled to cope with the flash floods caused by sudden rise in river levels.

Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool, and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh's Rayalaseema is the worst hit with at least 23 deaths being reported from Kadapa and Anantapur alone. Over 20,000 people have been evacuated and shifted to relief camps.

Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the families of deceased.

According to Indian Express, 7 teams of the National Disaster Response Force, four of them deployed in Kadapa and 9 teams of State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into rescue and relief operations. Two helicopters, one each in Kadapa and Anantapur districts, have also been made available.

Also watch: Indian Air Force rescues people stuck in Andhra floods

Tamil Nadu too continued to receive fairly widespread rainfall with the Met dept predicting no let up in the weather till Nov 23. Chennai is also likely to receive light rainfall till Sunday.

Cuddalore district continued to reel under floods caused by incessant rains over the last few days which led to release of surplus water from reservoirs.

Over 11,000 people are at relief centres, mainly in Cuddalore and Panruti taluks, according to the Hindu.

In Kerala, the pilgrimage to the Sabarimala temple was suspended due to continous rain in Pathanamthitta district.

Northern and coastal Karnataka too experienced heavy rainfall in isolated places on Saturday. The Indian Meteorological Department had issued an orange alert for the state on Friday.

Southern India is witnessing heavy downpour due to a cyclonic depression in the the Bay of Bengal which crossed the coast between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on Friday.