Chennai, November 28 (IANS). Cyclone ‘Fangal’, which originated from the Bay of Bengal, will reach Tamil Nadu coast in a day or two. Even before the arrival of this cyclone, heavy rains have started in 5 districts including Chengalpet. As a precautionary measure, schools have been kept closed in many districts on Wednesday. Not only this, the Navy is also in alert mode.
According to IMD, the deep depression over south-west Bay of Bengal has moved northwards at a speed of 2 km per hour during the last 6 hours. It is located near latitude 9.1°N and longitude 82.1°E, about 110 km east-northeast of Trincomalee.
According to the Meteorological Department, it will continue to move north-northwest along the Sri Lankan coast and turn into a cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. Thereafter, it will continue to move north-northwestwards and cross North Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram as a deep depression around the morning of 30 November. During this period, there is a possibility of strong winds at the speed of 50-60 km/hr, which will increase up to 70 km/hr.
Yellow alert has been issued for Chennai and surrounding districts, while orange alert has been declared for delta districts, with heavy to very heavy rainfall expected.
According to the weather department, Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai in the delta region may receive more than 24.4 cm rainfall on Thursday.
Heavy rainfall up to 24 cm is likely at isolated places in districts like Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Chengalpattu, Villupuram and Puducherry.
17 teams of NDRF and SDRF have already been deployed to deal with any situation. Due to torrential rains, schools and colleges have also been kept closed in these districts on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, heavy rains have started in Chengalpet, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvallur, Mayiladudurai and Nagapattinam.
–IANS
FM/KR
