Cyclone Burevi Weakens As It Closes In On Tamil Nadu Coast, Kerala Airport To Be Shut For 8 Hrs

Kerala government has declared a holiday in five districts for Friday as the state remains on high alert with heavy rains expected when cyclone Burevi makes landfall.

National Disaster Response Force personnel raise awareness among the residents living near Karur Ayyankovikal coast ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Burevi, in Alappuzha district. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Cyclonic storm Burevi has weakened into a deep depression and is most likely to make a landfall in Kerala on December 4 as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued red alert and cyclone warning for south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala coasts. Kerala government has declared a holiday in five districts for Friday as the state remains on high alert with heavy rains expected when cyclone Burevi makes landfall. A statement issued by the state government said a public holiday has been declared for the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki in the state.

Deep Depression over Gulf of Mannar lay centered at 2330 IST of 3 Dec about 40 km southwest of https://t.co/JkVWjS0WFL cross Ramanathapuram and adjoining Thoothukudi districts within a few hrs with wind speed of 50-60 kmph. To weaken further into a Depression by 4th Dec mrning. pic.twitter.com/ZRazCjbglH

— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) December 3, 2020

Burevi is expected to enter Indian territory at Tuticorin coast either on Thursday night or Friday morning. By today afternoon, it is expected to touch base in Kerala. It is expected to arrive in the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram border and from there, it will go into the Arabian Sea. Once in land, the expected maximum wind speed is expected to be 60 kms in an hour As per IMD's prediction, Burevi, which crossed the Sri Lanka coast on Wednesday night, would hit the Tamil Nadu coast as a cyclonic storm. As per latest update, the cyclone cross the south Tamil Nadu coast between Pamban and Kanniyakumari, during late Thursday night/early Friday morning, with wind speed of 70-80 gusting to 90 kmph. As many as 2,000 relief camps have been opened in Kerala and public holiday has been announced for all government offices including public sector undertakings for the five districts in the state. However, the disaster management authority and concerned services, emergency services and election-related services will function normally. The international airport here will remain shut from 10 AM to 6 PM on December 4. The IMD has predicted that the course of the storm will be through the border areas of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts and the government, along with various departments and the Army, were ready to face the contingencies, the statement said. Districts in Kerala such as Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Alappuzha can expect very heavy rainfall.

The Centre has been apprised about the preparations taken by the state. Today morning I spoke with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He offered all help from the Centre. All efforts taken by state was convened to him: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan https://t.co/6RRDrtgb8S

— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2020

"All have to be very cautious and have to be on alert till it leaves our state. All the basic arrangements have been done and officials are also ready. Mobile operators have been asked to ensure that they provide generators at all tower sites. Air Force and Navy are also all ready, in case a need arises," Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said. Vijayan said in the morning Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called him to assure of all help and asked that there should be no hesitation to call for any need. He said that eight teams of the National Disaster Rescue Force have already arrived and two teams are posted in Idukki district, while the other teams are in other districts, where Burevi could have an impact. Police, fire and rescue forces along with the NDRF teams have been deployed in the event of any emergency situation.

The Centre has been apprised about the preparations taken by the state. Today morning I spoke with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He offered all help from the Centre. All efforts taken by state was convened to him: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan https://t.co/6RRDrtgb8S

— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2020