Storm warning in southern India, thousands evacuated

HYDERABAD, India, Friday (Reuters) - Indian authorities began evacuating thousands of people from the southeastern coast on Friday as a storm with winds of 100 km per hour (62 mph) bore down from the Bay of Bengal.

The storm, expected to make landfall later on Friday, follows two weeks of heavy rains and floods which have left more than 110 people dead in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"High winds and heavy rains are hampering our evacuations," said B. Udaya Lakshmi, an official in Andhra Pradesh which has ordered people living in coastal villages to move into government-built shelters inland.

Fishermen in Andhra Pradesh - where nearly 40 people have died due to rains and floods this month - were told not to go out to sea until Sunday.

In the latest deaths, a woman and her two children drowned in the state's Chittoor district after their car was swept away while crossing a swollen stream on Thursday.

Flights and trains in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu were disrupted following heavy rains and flooding including in parts of the state capital Chennai, formerly known as Madras.

Officials said food packets were given to thousands of people living in temporary shelters in the city.

"Some of the low-lying areas have been marooned. Transportation has also been disrupted in several places. People are being shifted to higher places," a top official in the Tamil Nadu relief commissioner's office said.

The Karnataka state government has called on the army for help as the driving rain has caused breaches in the state's Cauvery River, leading to floods in some areas.

Mobile medical teams have been formed to provide assistance to those who were stranded or hurt in the sudden spell. Hospitals have been alerted to be prepared with ambulance services and 24-hour readiness to handle any emergency.

The rainstorm in northern Tamil Nadu came just as the Cauvery districts were slowly recovering from the heavy flooding that followed huge inflows into the river from Karnataka. Srirangam town in Tiruchi district, as also other areas along the riverbank in the Cauvery delta, survived flood threats in the last few days.

Weather officials said the rains had been caused by a low pressure system over the Bay of Bengal which was likely to stay put over the next two days.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jailalitha met with top officials Thursday to review the situation and work out rescue and relief efforts for the rain-affected areas.

Flights at Vishakhapatnam airport in Andhra Pradesh state had been suspended for the last two weeks because of the rains.

Officials from the Airports Authority of India said Chennai's international airport had also been shut down on Thursday, and four flights, including three international ones, were diverted to Bangalore.

"The annual monsoon rains have arrived earlier than usual over southern India. Now this wet weather will last for at least another two months. It is a huge challenge for the administration," a Tamil Nadu official said.

Unlike the rest of India which experiences monsoon rains between June to September, southern India gets monsoon rains in November and December.

In September, at least 50 people died after a Bay of Bengal storm hit the eastern coast of India and neighbouring Bangladesh.