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 Cyclone Thane makes landfall in Tamil Nadu
Cyclone Thane, packing wind speed of 140 kmph, made landfall on
the coast between Cuddalore in Tamil and Puducherry Friday
morning, officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)
here said.
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Chennai/Puducherry/Hyderabad: Five people were killed as Cyclone Thane, packing a wind
speed of 140 kmph, made landfall on the coast between Cuddalore in
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Friday morning, officials said.
In Tamil Nadu, two people were killed when they stepped on a power
line that had snapped due to the strong winds and one person died
when a tree fell on his house. In Puducherry, a person was killed
in a roof collapse and another in a wall collapse.
"Waves measuring 1.5 metres in height are hitting the shoreline.
The storm is more wind-centric and not much of rain. Puducherry
recorded 14 cm rain while Cuddalore 7 cm," an India Meteorological
Department (IMD) official told IANS.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa met officials to review
the situation. Normal life in Chennai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam,
Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, and Puducherry was
affected.
In Chennai, people in low-lying areas were shifted to relief
centres and food packets were distributed. Police banned public
from venturing onto the Marina beach as sea waters entered inland,
around 500 metres from the shoreline.
Boats and nets of fishermen were dragged into the sea due to high
tides.
Chennai Corporation officials said around 2,000 people were
evacuated and housed in schools and marriage halls which had been
converted as relief centres.
Flights at the Chennai airport are being delayed due to strong
winds. Southern Railway cancelled the Cholan Express and Trichy-Chennai
Express. The Chennai-Puducherry train was terminated at
Chengalpattu.
Chennai and Cuddalore witnessed heavy wind and rain since Thursday
night. In some places, tress have been uprooted disrupting power
lines and traffic.
The sea has been rough and has inundated some residential areas
along the East Coast Road connecting Chennai and Puducherry.
The Tamil Nadu government has set up 20 teams to monitor the water
levels in lakes and other water bodies in Chennai, Thiruvallur and
other places. Eight teams of the National Disaster Management
Force have been sent to the coastal districts.
Cuddalore district officials said traffic on the Cuddalore-Chidambaram
road was suspended due to uprooting of trees.
In Puducherry, power has been switched off since 11 p.m. Thursday
night as a precaution,.
"We don't know what is happening in the outside world. All that we
hear is the howling of wind. Many trees have fallen down. Even
mobile phone signals are not proper," Puducherry resident S.
Ravikumar told IANS.
Heavy rain accompanied by strong gale lashed south coastal Andhra
and Chittoor district of Rayalaseema region under the impact of
Cyclone Thane. Parts of Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Chittoor
districts have been receiving rain since morning.
Two villages of Kandriga block in Chittoor district have been
inundated.
There were reports of strong gales uprooting trees in the coastal
areas. High tidal waves continued to slam the coast. Sea water
entered into houses near Suryalanka coast in Guntur district.
Chittoor, Tirupati and other towns in Chittoor district received
heavy rain since early morning.
People have been evacuated from some coastal and low-lying
villages.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is in New
Delhi, reviewed the situation with revenue minister Raghuveera
Reddy and chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi over phone.
The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places
in north coastal and north interior Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry
till Friday night. Rainfall would occur over south coastal Andhra
Pradesh till Friday night and over Rayalseema, north Kerala and
south Karnataka till Saturday afternoon.
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