New Delhi: Heavy rains with strong winds lashed parts of Chennai as cyclone Mandous made landfall between northern Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with wind speeds gusting to 70 km/hr. Parts of Tamil Nadu saw waterlogging as heavy showers started pounding the state from Friday evening.
Here are the key updates:
- The cyclone made its landfall around midnight near Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, between Puducherry and Sriharikota, with wind speed of 70 km an hour, said IMD. The weather office predicted heavy rainfall as it passes over the Chennai coast around midnight.
- Ahead of the landfall, 16 flights at the Chennai airport were cancelled due to bad weather. These included three international flights. "Passengers are requested to check with concerned airline(s) for further updates," tweeted Chennai International Airport.
- Chennai Traffic Police issued an advisory and also restricted vehicular movement both ways on East Coast Road between Akkarai and Kovalam, except for the residents living in this stretch and emergency services till further notice.
- Dindigul Collector has declared a holiday for schools and colleges in Sirumalai and Kodaikanal for Saturday in wake of the cyclone.
- Equipment such as boats, high-voltage motors, sucker machines and cutters have been kept ready for rescue operations as the cyclone is likely to gather more intensity.
- Chennai Division of Southern Railway has announced that suburban trains in Chennai may be cancelled/rescheduled if necessary to prevent untoward incidents.
- Ten teams of NDRF and Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in south coastal districts of the state following heavy rainfall alert by the IMD.
- As many as 16,000 police personnel and a total of 1,500 home guards have been deployed for security, relief and rescue tasks.
- Waterlogging reported in several parts of Chennai as heavy rains lashed the city.
- Mandous, pronounced 'man-dous' is an Arabic word and it means ‘treasure box’ and the name was reportedly picked by the United Arab Emirates.