Chennai/Hyderabad: Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in southeast India on Wednesday as a cyclone slammed into the coast, with officials warning of possible flooding and damage to houses.
Cyclone Nilam struck the historic port of Mahabalipuram, 50 kilometres south of Chennai, and is forecast to cross the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh overnight.
“More than 5,000 evacuations have been completed,” Jayraman, a disaster management official in Chennai said.
“We have evacuated thousands of people from Mahabalipuram and nearby coastal districts. We are monitoring the situation in Chennai but have not ordered any evacuations there.”
The latest bulletin from the India Meteorological Department predicted that winds gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour would trigger flooding of low-lying areas due to a sea surge and heavy rain.
Residents living in huts along the coast were advised to move to safer areas and fishermen were ordered not to go out to sea.
“We have advised all the schools and colleges to remain closed for the day,” Jayraman told AFP.
“All maritime activities have been suspended and the government is monitoring the situation closely. We expect the cyclone to weaken as it moves away from the coast.”
Torrential rains lashed coastal Andhra and parts of Rayalseema region in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday as the severe cyclonic storm “Nilam” hit the coast near Mahabalipuram, 32km south west of Chennai leaving a trail of destruction behind it.
Nellore and adjoining Chittoor district bore the brunt of the heavy rains as wet and windy conditions prevailed in the region throughout the day. With weather office forecasting rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls at some places in Andhra and Rayalaseema, the officials were bracing for flooding and inundation in low lying areas. However no large scale evacuation has taken place so far.
The state government has already put the collectors of the coastal districts of Nellore, Prakasham, Guntur and Krishna and control rooms have been set up at all the vulnerable places.
Deputy Director General of Meteorology at Chennai Y.E.A. Raj said that the landfall of the cyclone was likely to continue till late in the night and the north coastal Tamil Nadu will experience winds with speed of 80 to 90km/h and gusts with a speed of more than 100km/h. Rains were likely to continue over the next 48 hours in the region.
While Chennai and other adjoining districts were reeling under the impact of the cyclone and Mahabalipuram has recorded a rainfall of 13cm during last 24 hours, southern coastal Andhra Pradesh seems to have largely escaped the fury of the cyclone. However the sky was overcast in the entire coastal belt with many places receiving heavy rains.
The cyclone was so powerful that it grounded a cargo ship on the beach of Chennai today. The ship was going to Mumbai after discharging the cargo at Chennai harbor but unable to withstand the force of the cyclone, the ship drifted towards the beach. 37 people were aboard the ship.
In another incident a life boat bringing 14 people from a ship capsized due to the surge in the sea and the occupants were rescued by the coast guard and local fishermen.
Meanwhile an alert has also been sounded at the Kalpakkam atomic power plant near Chennai. However the officials said that the plant was functioning normally and it was fully equipped to withstand the winds with a speed of 160km/h.
