The deep depression over the southwestern Bay of Bengal has turned into a cyclonic storm, Nivar, and loomed 450 kilometers southeast of Chennai, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken with Prime Minister Puducherry and Tamil Nadu Prime Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami and V Narayanaswamy, assuring them of the Center’s assistance.
Cyclone Nivar is expected to cross the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and make landfall between Mamallapuram and Karaikal on the evening of November 25 as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph with gusts of 120 kmph.
Tamil Nadu is applying the lessons learned from the devastating previous cyclones, Gaja in 2018 and Vardah in 2016, to prepare for the heavy rains and winds that have been forecast since the day in Chennai and districts such as Cuddlaore, Pudukottai and Villupuram.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has mobilized to the coastal regions. Six teams are in Cuddalore, one of the worst affected regions of the state during each monsoon and cyclone. Two NDRF teams are on standby in Chennai and one in Madurai.
People in low-lying and flood-prone areas have been asked to move to safer places and are being transferred by district authorities to relief camps with food and necessary medical aid. Prime Minister Palaniswami has urged people to avoid going out for the next three days. Authorities warned of damage to thatched roofs, kuchcha roads, waterlogging, power outages and uprooting of trees due to the strong cyclone.
Civic workers in Chennai have been pressured to clear flooded roads. The water level in Lake Chembarambakkam, which rose and caused the 2015 floods in Chennai, reached 82.62 feet from 85.40 feet with an influx of 220 cusecs. “People don’t have to panic. The situation is well controlled, ”said Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash. The city has opened 80 relief camps and another 80 are on hold.
The Southern Railways canceled some train services and internal and internal bus services, including private buses, were suspended in seven districts. Fishing operations are completely suspended. Medical advice for undergraduate courses scheduled for Tuesday in Chennai has been postponed until November 30.
The previous cyclone to make landfall in Tamil Nadu was Gaja (classified as a very severe cyclonic storm) during the northeast monsoon in mid-November 2018. It claimed 46 lives and left a trail of destruction that left hundreds of thousands of people. homeless. mainly in ten districts.
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