BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: A couple and their one-year-old son were killed in a landslide in Kandhamal, hundreds of villages were marooned and traffic on the busy Kolkata-Chennai NH-16 paralysed on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border for over 12 hours as south Odisha continued to reel from widespread flooding triggered by heavy rain in the aftermath of Cyclone Arnab.Achyuta Pradhan, 30, a farmer, his wife Manshi, 25, and their son were killed when a massive landslide buried their hilltop house at Dangesi, a remote village in Raikia block, special relief commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil confirmed.Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed grief over the deaths and announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the family of each victim.While the three are suspected to have died on Thursday, the bodies were found on Friday.Some more villagers are feared missing, while firefighters rescued two people, including an elderly woman. Police and fire services personnel trekked about six km through the muddy terrain to reach the village.“The clear picture will emerge only after the teams return,” said IIC, Raikia police station, Swarnalata Patra.At least six villages, including Dangesi in Manikeswari panchayat, remained cut off following landslides.Landslides were also reported in the Kalinga Ghat area. Panchayati raj minister Rabi Narayan Nayak, who was in Kandhamal to oversee restoration and rehabilitation work, tried to reach Dangesi but had to turn back as the approach road was cut off. He and the collector visited other affected villages in Raikia, the worst-hit block in the district.The disaster also hit inter-state connectivity.Traffic on the Barkul-Ichapuram stretch of NH-16 came to a grinding halt for several hours after the swollen Bahuda river overflowed onto the highway near the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border.Hundreds of trucks, buses and cars were stranded along a 50-km stretch between Barkul and Ichapuram for more than 12 hours. At least two trucks were stuck in the floodwaters. Andhra Pradesh police put up barricades to stop vehicles from entering the flooded stretch.Several long-distance drivers said they were unaware of the disruption.“I had no idea that floodwater was flowing over the highway and travelled on the route as usual,” said Pinku Sarkar, a truck driver travelling from Kolkata to Bengaluru. Traffic on NH-16 resumed on Friday evening.SP (Berhampur) Abhinav Sonkar said movement of vehicles towards Andhra Pradesh resumed around noon in coordination with Andhra Pradesh police.Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari said Ganjam was the worst affected, followed by Gajapati and Kandhamal. Koraput and Rayagada have also been significantly affected. Heavy post-cyclone rain has waterlogged villages and extensively damaged roads and other infrastructure.According to govt’s figures, 42,564 people have been affected in Ganjam, 30,000 in Gajapati and 12,000 in Kandhamal.ODRAF, NDRF and fire service teams have been deployed for rescue and relief operations, while helicopters are being used for rescue and distribution of food supplies.People in vulnerable and low-lying areas are being shifted to safer places, with pregnant women being given priority and provided healthcare and medicines. Relief camps are being supplied with dry food, rice, jaggery, polythene sheets and safe drinking water.