Cyclone makes landfall, 17 people die in Chennai
Cyclone Michaung swept inland on Tuesday, striking the Andhra Pradesh coast, bringing with it torrential rainfall, howling winds, and leaving behind a trail of destruction across the south-eastern Indian coast and leading to the deaths of at least 18 people over the past two days
Cyclone Michaung swept inland on Tuesday, striking the Andhra Pradesh coast, bringing with it torrential rainfall, howling winds, and leaving behind a trail of destruction across the south-eastern Indian coast and leading to the deaths of at least 18 people over the past two days.
Michaung made landfall as a severe cyclonic storm near Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding that it was moving northwards at a speed of 11kmph.
Winds gusting at 110kmph tore through coastal villages and cities in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu through much of Tuesday, uprooting trees, snapping power and phone lines, and causing widespread damage to standing crops. By the evening, the system had weakened into a cyclonic storm, and it had further reduced to a deep depression by late Tuesday night, meaning wind speeds were in the 55-85kph range.
A day earlier, as Michaung barrelled towards the Indian coast, it brought extensive rain and submerged much of Chennai, damaging infrastructure and leaving at least 17 people dead on Monday and Tuesday.
On Tuesday, however, bulk of the cyclone’s onslaught was centered in Andhra Pradesh, with several districts in the state receiving extremely heavy rainfall through the day. IMD officials warned of heavy rains across the coastal and Rayalaseema regions through much of Wednesday as well.
Other nearby states such as Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh also saw light to moderate rainfall through Monday and Tuesday, according to the IMD cyclone bulletin.
In Andhra Pradesh, officials said that around 9,500 people were shifted to 211 relief camps set up at schools and government office buildings in coastal districts. A 35-year-old police officer was killed in the state’s Kadapa district when an uprooted tree fell on him as he was travelling on a motorcycle.
Of the total people evacuated, 1,350 people were moved in Bapatla district alone. The state government deployed 50 special teams in the district to take up cyclone relief measures. Bapatla district collector P Ranjit Bhasha instructed officials to visit 111 villages where the impact of the cyclone was very severe.
People in nearly all coastal regions, including Repalle, Vemuru, Bapatla, and Nizampatnam, have been instructed by the local administration not to venture out. The sea was rough nearly throughout the Andhra coast, with some areas reporting waves that were more than two metres high. There were reports of extensive damage to crops in Tirupati, Nellore, Kadapa, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, NTR, and Konaseema districts. Besides paddy, horticulture crops like bananas suffered damage.
Andhra chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting and directed the officials to ensure that there was no loss of life and also to minimise damage to properties.
Meanwhile, the South Central Railway has announced cancellation of 305 trains in the coastal Andhra region between December 2 and 8 and diversion of 11 trains to other routes. The air traffic has been closed at the Visakhapatnam airport due to heavy rains. A day earlier, heavy rains caused flooding at Chennai airport’s runway, leading to the airport being shut.
Tamil Nadu, however, received some respite as the onslaught of rain in the state weakened.
In Chennai, which was battered by heavy rains on Monday leaving at least 12 people dead, city residents picked up the pieces on Tuesday. Some areas returned to normalcy even as reports of people still being marooned across the city poured in. Eleven people who sustained injuries in rain-related incidents, were receiving treatment at various hospitals in the city, officials said.
After close to 300mm of rain in Chennai a day earlier, people finally woke up to dry weather on Tuesday, allowing officials to focus on rescue and relief operations.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin told reporters that relief measures were being undertaken on a war footing. Stalin said that across the nine affected districts, including Chennai, a total of 61,666 relief camps were established.
The Chennai Corporation has brought in 5,000 workers from other districts for flood mitigation works in the city. These workers utilised farm tractors and fishing boats in flooded areas such as Periamet and other parts of north Chennai, which were the worst affected, for rescue operations and distributing relief materials.
Power supply had been restored across the city in most areas, barring a few such as suburban Tambaram, Ashok Nagar, Kattupakkam, and Perungudi. Mukesh Chordia, a resident of Ashok Nagar, said although water had receded from the main roads in the area, power supply had not been restored. Stalin said the power situation was being restored in phases. “We have been able to restore power in 75% of the city,” officials said.
Inflatable boats were deployed to rescue residents from low lying areas and high rise apartments, officials said. “There is five-feet of water outside my home and it hasn’t reduced an inch since yesterday,” said a resident K Raju in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
