We just received the report below from Luther Dasari the president of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations in India. Please be in prayer for our work in India.Again our area has been affected by cyclone. This is a greater disaster than the previous one. Three days heavy rains and winds caused much disaster in Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts in which more of our congregations are established. Our congregations Lakshmipuram, Vadaruvu, Nagulapalem, Pothukatla, Komarnenivaripalem, Bapatla, Bodduluripadu, Etheru, Reddypalem, Bodapadu, Gollamudipadu, Pandrapadu, Govada, Amruthalur, Kotipalli and Zilllellamudi have been affected severely. You know all our members are daily labourers(they will get daily wages if there is work). They lost their crops totally. Now they do not have work in the fields. If there is no work they will not get food. Pastor D. Devasahayam who is working at Etheru congregation has lost his house. His house was totally damaged and the church building tiled roof partially damaged. Some of the poor members in this congregation lost their huts. Communications and electricity have been broken down three days. Kindly remember us in your prayers.
The following article was taken from Reuters News Service on the internet.
HYDERABAD (Reuters) - Nine people were killed and more than 45,000 evacuated as heavy rainfall and cold winds battered Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.
Cyclonic storm Ogni had hovered over the Bay of Bengal for two days before hitting the mainland between the towns of Ongole and Bapatla on Monday evening.
It has since weakened into a depression and is now moving in a north-northwesterly direction, according to the state cyclone warning centre in Visakhapatnam.
"Heavy rains and cold winds of 50 to 60 km per hour are likely to continue for another 24 hours," said the centre's director V.L. Prasada Rao.
The coastal town of Chirala, around 360 km southeast of Hyderabad, was the worst hit, with much of the town flooded.
"We have been living in darkness for over 48 hours without water and milk supplies" said K. Ramulu, a local weaver.
Waterlogging at several power substations plunged more than 2,000 villages into darkness.
"Seventy farmers working in shrimp farms near Chinnaganjam village in Prakasam district were evacuated by army boats after the fields were flooded by rainwater," said B. Udayalakshmi, the administrator of Prakasam district.
Disaster management officials at Hyderabad said that nearly 275 camps had been set up in Prakasam, Krishna and Guntur districts to accommodate those evacuated from their homes.
"Nearly 1,000 houses have collapsed and standing crops in over 12,000 hectares were destroyed," said a state government spokesman.
