Cyclone Laila Causes Damage in Andhra Pradesh

June 02, 2010

One of the 23 people killed when Cyclone Laila came ashore May 19 in Andhra Pradesh, India, was an elderly woman who is a member of a church where a GFA World-supported missionary serves.

The woman, whose name was Susheelamma, was at home when the storm hit, and a mud wall collapsed on her.

The cyclone, which brought wind gusts of 60 miles per hour, and tidal waves as high as nine feet, also damaged more than 600,000 acres of newly planted crops.

Of the 300,000 people evacuated from low-lying and costal areas, about 100 were part of GFA-supported churches. Most people had to stay away for a few days. They were greeted by waterlogged furniture and other flood-related damage upon their return home.

A church where a GFA-supported missionary serves as pastor was also damaged during the storm.

The cyclone caused major communication outages when it took out several cell phone towers. It also caused power outages in about 12 towns and 1,400 coastal villages.

The people of Andhra Pradesh ask that you would continue to pray for them. The monsoon season, which brings heavy downpours that inundate the country for weeks on end, arrived simultaneously with the cyclone.

story from May 24, 2010:

Cyclone Laila

The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has suffered a heavy blow under the incessant winds and rains of Cyclone Laila. Reports indicate that 23 people have died and 55 fishermen are missing. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, located in low-lying regions, and sent to refugee camps before the state was deluged with heavy rains.

The cyclone hit land May 20, uprooting trees and taking down power lines with winds of up to 60 miles per hour. Hundreds of villages in six districts were in total darkness for more than 10 hours because of the power outages.

GFA World has supported national missionaries working in these areas but is unable to contact them because communication towers have been knocked out.

By the time Cyclone Laila reached the state of Orissa on May 23, it digressed into a tropical depression, bringing with it heavy to moderate rain showers. No loss of life or property has been reported thus far in Orissa, but strong winds are expected to reach around 30 miles per hour.

• Read how Cyclone Laila has caused severe flooding in Sri Lanka.