Torrential rains with strong winds continued to hit Chennai and the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday as Cyclone Nivar intensified into a “very severe cyclonic storm”. The cyclone is ready to make landfall after 2 am Thursday, said the director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), SN Pradhan. Tens of thousands of people were transferred to evacuation shelters on Wednesday to escape the cyclone. In Puducherry, prohibition orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed from Tuesday night until 6 am Thursday to restrict the movement of people. Parts of the Union territory have been experiencing intermittent moderate rains since Tuesday night. The Chennai airport on Wednesday night had canceled all flight operations from 7pm Wednesday to 7am Thursday. Meanwhile, the Southern Railways canceled more than a dozen special trains Wednesday and Thursday that were scheduled to originate and terminate in the southern states.
Here is the latest update from Cyclone Nivar
1) Cyclone Nivar is expected to cause heavy downpours after hitting the coast near Mamallapuram and Karaikal in Tamil Nadu state, the Department of Meteorology said.
2) The storm, with sustained winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph), is likely to damage crops, trees, houses and power poles, it said in a statement.
3) Tamil Nadu Finance Minister RB Udhayakumar and officials said that more than 1.21 lakh people, including children, have been accommodated in 1,000 aid centers in various districts, including Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Villupuram. Food, water and all other essentials, including masks to help prevent coronavirus, have been made available to them at aid centers, he said.
4) In light of Cyclone Nivar, aircraft operations at Chennai airport will remain suspended from 7pm on November 25 to 7am on November 26, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said. “The decision was made considering the safety aspect of the passengers and the severity of the approaching cyclone,” AAI said in an official statement.
5) Emergency personnel have been deployed to the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry states, where the cyclone was expected to strike on Wednesday night, said SN Pradhan, director of the National Disaster Response Force. from India.
6) Southern Railway said it had canceled six pairs of trains and that one more train was canceled, which was scheduled for Thursday. “Previously, Southern Railway completely canceled two trains for today (November 25), three for tomorrow (November 26) and one for November 28. A total of five trains partially canceled,” stated the director of public relations, B Guganesan.
7) “For trains completely canceled by Railways in view of Cyclone NIVAR, a full refund of the fare will be granted on ticket cancellations. The time limit to make use of the reimbursements has also been extended to six months from the date of the trip, “said Ferrocarriles.
8) The districts of Chennai, Chengelpet, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore and Puducherry received heavy rains on Wednesday. Chennai recorded the maximum of 16 centimeters on Wednesday, while Puducherry received four inches, the IMD said.
9) Thursday was declared a holiday in 16 districts of Tamil Nadu and in the Puducherry and Karaikal regions by the state and union territory governments respectively.
10) The gates of the Chembarambakkam reservoir near here were opened for the first time in five years as a precautionary measure, releasing a torrent of surplus water into the Adyar river here after its storage was only 20% below capacity due to heavy rains that were coming. of the incoming cyclone.
PWD officials said 1,000 cusecs were initially released from the lake when the water level stood at 22 feet against the maximum total of 24 feet, while storage reached 80 percent capacity. At 8 pm, the release of water gradually increased to 5,000 cusecs, they said.
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