Congress president Sonia Gandhi [Images] arrived at the coastal city of Vijayawada on Tuesday to visit the flood-affected areas of Andhra Pradesh.

Sonia, who was accorded a rousing welcome on her arrival at Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada, witnessed a photo-exhibition and a power-point presentation on the damage caused by heavy rains and floods in a dozen districts following a cyclonic storm last week.

Slide show: Andhra, washed away

The floods claimed 87 lives in the state, besides causing damaging crops and infrastructure worth an estimated Rs 1,809 crore. The state has sought central assistance of Rs 1,201 crore. 

The Congress president then proceeded to Pragadapalli village near Polavaram in West Godavari district by a helicopter to interact with the flood victims. Later, she undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas around Kolleru lake.

Sonia's itinerary includes stop-overs at Kanchala and Ibrahimpatnam villages and a visit to affected areas and relief camps in Vijayawada.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, AP Congress Committee president K Keshav Rao and Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao joined Sonia on the aerial tour of the affected areas in Krishna and West Godavari districts.

Meanwhile, a 9-member central team arrived in the state on Monday night to assess the damaged caused by the cyclonic rains in several districts.

The team, led by Joint Secretary (Home Affairs) Navin Verma, includes officials from the agriculture, finance, power, rural development, medical and health ministries, Central Water Commission and the Planning Commission.

The central team split into three 3-member groups for touring the affected districts for 2 days. They would cover Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam [Images], East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Khammam, Warangal and Nalgonda districts.

On their return to the city, the central team members would have wrap-up meeting with Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda and other senior officials and call on the Chief Minister on September 28 and leave for Delhi [Images] on September 29 morning.