VIJAYAWADA/HYDERABAD: Cyclone Montha weakened into a deep depression Wednesday after leaving a trail of destruction across Andhra and Telangana – from overflowing lakes and collapsed homes to snapped power lines and stranded trains, report Madhu Rasala, Amisha Rajani & Shiva Kumar Pinna.A 90-year-old woman, of Palnadu in Andhra, was killed after a mud wall collapsed amid the downpour, while hundreds were rescued from submerged tunnels, flooded temples, and stranded highways. Montha made landfall Tuesday night near Kakinada between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, packing winds over 100kmph and torrential rain that turned entire stretches of coastal Andhra into an expanse of floodwater and fallen trees. Though the storm spared Kakinada city major damage, high tides battered the Uppada beach road and damaged fisherfolk homes.By Wednesday, Montha weakened over Telangana and moved toward southern Chhattisgarh, but not before drenching the region with record rainfall and paralysing transport.Across Andhra, power lines and transformers collapsed under gusty winds. South Central Railway cancelled 127 trains and diverted 14, while long-distance trains were halted mid-route. Telangana faced the full fury of Montha’s rain bands. Dozens of vehicles were left stranded on Hyderabad-Srisailam highway after a portion of the road washed away near Nagarkurnool. Warangal and Hanumakonda districts bore the brunt, with several areas recording over 300mm rainfall – the season’s highest in the state. At Warangal’s Welfare Degree College for Women, 375 students were trapped for hours before disaster response teams pulled them to safety using ropes and a human chain.
