Cyclone Montha damage estimated at $603 million, Indian state says

A severe cyclone that battered India's eastern coast this week caused damage estimated at nearly 53 billion rupees ($603 million), as farms, roads and buildings were flooded in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, authorities said on Thursday. Cyclone Montha made landfall on the coast of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday night, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds that damaged crops and utility poles, uprooted trees and left several areas under water.

An early damage assessment indicated that the farm sector suffered the highest losses at 8.68 billion rupees, the state government said, adding that the storm also killed 120 animals. "No human casualties were reported from the cyclone," state Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said, although local media reported that two women had died.

Heavy rain brought by the cyclone also lashed the neighbouring state of Telangana, causing flooding that persisted on Thursday. Visuals from news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake, showed people wading through knee-deep water carrying belongings they had salvaged in their hands or balanced on their heads.

Other images showed rescue workers carrying residents pulled out of flooded areas to safer ground. The cyclone should continue to weaken into a low-pressure area over the next 24 hours, India's weather department said on Thursday evening.

Cyclones frequently hit India's east coast between April and December. A super cyclone that killed nearly 10,000 people when it struck the eastern state of Odisha in 1999 remains one of the country's deadliest natural disasters. ($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)