Cyclone Burevi: Airports Closed, NDRF Teams Deployed, States Brace Up For The Upcoming Storm

Cyclone Burevi crossed the Sri Lanka coast on Wednesday night and is predicted to make landfall by Friday morning across the southern districts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Kanyakumari | (PTI Photo)

Cyclone Nivar: Just a week after, Cyclone Nivar ravaged the coasts Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, another storm, Cyclone Burevi is expected to make landfall, along the coasts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, on Friday morning. In the wake of the upcoming cyclone, the airport authority of Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin airport, on Thursday, announced the closure of the airport, till 12 PM on Friday, as a precautionary measure. Flight operations will remain suspended at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport from 10 am to 6 pm, tomorrow, following the cyclone. Cyclone Burevi crossed the Sri Lanka coast on Wednesday night and is predicted to make landfall by Friday morning across the southern districts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, the cyclonic storm moving towards the southern part of the country, Burevi, is expected to cross Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi districts between Thursday night and Friday early morning with a wind speed of 50-60 kmph, gusting up to 70 kmph. The cyclone is also very likely to further weaken into a depression (with a wind speed of 40-50 kmph, gusting up to 60 kmph) by Friday. The formation of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal during this period is also a common occurrence. Tamil Nadu and other parts of south India receive rain due to the northeast monsoon from October to December. Even though the Indian Meteorological Department has said, the storm is weakening into a depression. The authorities of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have braced up for the upcoming storm. The IMD has advised the fishermen, not to venture into southwest Bay of Bengal and along and off the east Sri Lanka coast today; Comorin Area, Gulf of Mannar and south Tamilnadu-Kerala and west Sri Lanka coasts from December 4. 26 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams along with battalions of armed forces have been deployed across Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the wake of Cyclone Burevi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Thursday, spoke to Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to ensure all possible support from the Centre. Cyclone Nivar, which made landfall earlier this week, took the life of four people, uprooted more than a thousand trees, and caused damage worth Rs 400 crores to property and agriculture.