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Cyclone Michaung nears TN, triggers heavy rainfall
The cyclone is expected to intensify while moving towards the adjoining north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh on December 4
Chennai: Cyclone Michaung triggered heavy rainfall in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday. A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm named Michaung on Sunday morning and by afternoon it was 230 km away from Chennai, moving at a speed of 11 kmph, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding that a red alert has been issued for Chennai.
The cyclone is expected to intensify while moving towards the adjoining north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh on December 4. It will make landfall as a severe cyclonic storm between Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore and Machilipatnam on December 5, the Met department said. Preparations are in full swing in Tamil Nadu for heavy rainfall and gusty winds. Ten teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been stationed in the affected regions for relief and rescue operations.
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday announced that all schools, government offices and banks will remain shut in Chennai and adjoining districts of Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Chengalpattu on Monday. “However essential services such as police, fire services, local bodies, milk supply, water supply, hospitals, medical shops, hotels restaurants…shall function as usual,” said Tamil Nadu chief secretary Shiv Das Meena in an order. The government also requested people not to go out unless necessary, since very heavy rainfall has been forecast in at least eight districts of Tamil Nadu until December 5. Five senior ministers are overseeing relief operations in Chennai and a minister each has been deputed to other districts.
Till 5.30 pm on Sunday, Chennai’s Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam stations recorded 21mm and 30 mm of rainfall, respectively.
According to officials familiar with the matter, workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) fanned out to drain water using more than 900 heavy duty pumps from low lying areas. They also began the process of evacuating people from low lying areas and moving them to the government’s relief shelters. The Greater Chennai police said that free flow of traffic has been maintained except for one arterial road which was closed due to release of excess water from the Puzhal Lake.
Chief minister MK Stalin , while speaking to reporters from the state emergency centre in Chennai, said, more than 20 million people, who are likely to be impacted by the cyclone, have been warned via WhatsApp to be careful and be prepared. “We have created a protective situation,” said Stalin. Amidst criticism from the AIADMK that the ruling DMK government is not able to control the situation, Stalin said his priority is now to safeguard people and not politicise the issue.
The government, in an official release, said as many as 121 multipurpose centres and 4,967 relief camps with all basic amenities are ready in northern and other coastal regions of the state, besides the Cauvery delta areas. Since May 2021, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has constructed an additional 876.19 km of storm water drains in Chennai. Drones have also been deployed to cover 5,820 sq km of Chennai’s basin to identify the flow of water, inundation, lack of connectivity between drains in physically inaccessible areas for corrective measures.
