Heavy rain lashed coastal areas of India's southern states, particularly the Cauvery delta districts in Tamil Nadu, on Saturday, November 29, as Cyclone Ditwah approached the country's mainland.
In Tamil Nadu, Ramanathapuram and Nagapattinam districts witnessed heavy downpour, with normal life being affected by continuous rains, news agency PTI quoted state revenue and disaster management minister KKSSR Ramachandran as saying.
Around 6,000 relief camps have been set up and at least 28 disaster response teams are prepared and on standby, Ramachandran said. An official told PTI that 14 NDRF teams had already been deployed in vulnerable districts in Tamil Nadu, while additional teams have been allocated for Puducherry and Chennai.
B Amudha, Director, Regional Meteorological Centre, said heavy to very heavy rains were likely at some places, while one or two locations in in Tiruvallur and Ranipet districts might witness extremely heavy rain.
Where is Cyclone Ditwah now? When will it make India landfall?
- Cyclone Ditwah was centered 80 km east of the Vedaranyam coast, 100 km southeast of Karaikal, 190 km south-southeast of Puducherry and 290 km south of Chennai as of 5:30 pm on Saturday.
- According to the latest update on Saturday by the India Meteorological Department, the storm moved nearly northwards with the speed of 10 kmph through the afternoon till evening.
- It lay centered over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining North Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coasts, near latitude 10.4°N and longitude 80.6°E, the IMD stated.
- The storm was expected to move north-northwestwards and reach over southwest Bay of Bengal near North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by morning of November 30.
“While moving north-northwestwards the cyclonic storm will be centered over southwest Bay of Bengal within a minimum distance of 60 km, 50 km and 25km from the Tamil Nādu-Puducherry coastline by midnight of today, the 29th November, early morning and evening of tomorrow, the 30th November respectively,” the IMD said in a post on X.
{{/usCountry}}“While moving north-northwestwards the cyclonic storm will be centered over southwest Bay of Bengal within a minimum distance of 60 km, 50 km and 25km from the Tamil Nādu-Puducherry coastline by midnight of today, the 29th November, early morning and evening of tomorrow, the 30th November respectively,” the IMD said in a post on X.
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