Heavy rain on east coast ahead of Cyclone Mandous’s landfall
With Cyclone Mandous expected to make landfall in Tamil Nadu coast between Puducherry and Sriharikota near Mahabalipuram around Friday midnight, authorities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh stepped up operations and raised the level of alertness for minimum damage.
With Cyclone Mandous expected to make landfall in Tamil Nadu coast between Puducherry and Sriharikota near Mahabalipuram around Friday midnight, authorities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh stepped up operations and raised the level of alertness for minimum damage.
While several flights were cancelled and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was kept on standby in Chennai due to adverse weather conditions, the administration in four Andhra Pradesh districts declared a holiday for all educational institutions.
Cyclone Mandous, the second cyclonic storm of the post monsoon season, is likely to make landfall on Friday midnight and result in heavy rainfall along the coasts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The cyclone over southwest Bay of Bengal intensified on Thursday and remained severe on Friday. It moved northwestwards and lay centred off north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts, about 310 km north of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 230 km north-northeast of Jaffna (Sri Lanka), 180 km southeast of Mamallapuram and about 210 km south-southeast of Chennai on Friday.
It is likely to move nearly northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts, between Puducherry and Sriharikota around Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram), as a cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph on Friday midnight, the weather body said.
“As forecast earlier, severe cyclone Mandous started weakening this afternoon. But it will make landfall as a cyclone with wind speed of 65 to 75 kmph, gusting to 85 kmph near Mahabalipuram. We can expect a storm surge of 0.5 metres and very heavy rain along Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and South Andhra Pradesh coasts. Chennai has already recorded heavy rain,” IMD director general M Mohapatra said.
The cyclone is being monitored by Doppler Weather Radar Karaikal and Chennai.
The weather developments are expected to cause very heavy rain along the coasts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh.
Light to moderate rainfall is likely at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over north coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over adjoining south coastal Andhra Pradesh and north interior Tamil Nadu and Rayalaseema on Friday.
On Saturday, it is likely to reduce to light to moderate rainfall at most places, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over north interior Tamil Nadu and Rayalaseema and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh, the IMD said.
In Tamil Nadu, Chennai and its adjoining districts of Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram saw intense spells of rains on Friday. Within a span of nine hours, Chennai received an average rainfall of 35mm with Kodaikanal registering the highest of 55mm, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in the state capital.
As a precautionary measure, the state government has decided not to operate public buses for two hours before and after the cyclone makes landfall, specially in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Cuddalore districts.
Schools in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Chengalpattu will remain shut on Saturday. All parks will also be closed for the day.
Tamil Nadu chief secretary chaired a meeting to assess the preparedness of the storm and instructed all district authorities to evacuate people from low lying areas and ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities.
“Important decisions were taken during this meeting and all departments have been told to be on alert for the next 24-hours,” state minister for health and family welfare M Subramanian said.
More than 5,000 relief camps across the state have been readied to relocate people from low-lying areas.
Besides the NDRF and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), personnel from the department of highways, water resources, electricity board and fire services have also been kept on standby for operations, officials said.
Heavy to very heavy rains are expected to lash several places in Nellore, Annamayya, Chittoor and Tirupati districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy reviewed the situation with the collectors of the four districts and asked them to take all precautionary steps to prevent loss of lives and minimise damage to properties, officials said.
“The families of fishermen closer to the coast in the Sullurpet area closer to Sriharikota are being evacuated to safer places and fishermen have been asked not to venture into sea,” Reddy said. Heavy rains hit several areas on Friday.
Squally weather with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph prevailed in the afternoon in several places.