Vizag in dark, mobile phones inaccesible

Visakhapatnam: Reeling under devastating cyclone Hudhud, people in this port city are without electricity while mobile phones are not working for a second consecutive day Monday.

After remaining indoors Sunday, people came out Monday thanks to the respite from rains and strong gales. But normal life remained totally paralysed.

The very severe cyclonic storm in Bay of Bengal, which crossed the coast near the city Sunday, damaged electricity and communication networks.

The authorities late Saturday switched off electricity as a precautionary measure but the squally winds with speed reaching 185 kmph knocked down the network, making restoration of electricity supply a daunting task.

Hundreds of electricity poles and towers were damaged across Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.

With the collapse of communication network, mobile phones went on the blink while Internet service was snapped. None of the telecom service providers could restore the services for the second day.

With no television, mobile phone and Internet, this city of nearly 18 lakh population was almost cut-off from rest of the world. People relied on radio sets to keep themselves updated about weather conditions.

Known as 'city of destiny', Visakhapatnam also known as Vizag is the biggest city of Andhra Pradesh. The residents said they never faced this situation in their lifetime.