CYCLONIC STORM LEAVES SIX DEAD
IN TN AND PUDUCHERRY
The very severe cyclonic storm, "Thane', on Friday,30th December,2011, crossed the Tamil Nadu coast, leaving six persons dead and causing extensive damage to Cuddalore and the neighbouring Union Territory of Puduchery which remained cut-off from the nearby districts of the state. Five persons died in Cuddalore in incidents of wall collapse and electrocution, officials said. A 45-year old man of Vanarampet village in Puducherry died in house collapse. Train services from southern Tamil Nadu were hit as many of them ran late or were stopped in the nearby station while flights to international destinations by private carriers including to Kuwait and Malaysia from Chennai were cancelled. Puduchery District Collector S B Deepak Kumar told PTI that rescue operations were in full swing in the union territory. Uprooted trees were being removed from the roads.
The regional weather office here said, “The very severe cyclonic storm ‘THANE’ over southwest Bay of Bengal moved further westward and crossed north Tamil Nadu coast between Cuddalore and Puducherry between 6.30 and 7.30 AM today.” It had now weakened into a severe cyclonic storm and lay about 30 km west of Cuddalore and 35 km southwest of Puduchery, it said, adding wind speeds of upto 140 kph was recorded during this period. “Under the influence of this system, rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places would occur over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during next 12 hours and over north interior Tamil Nadu during next 24 hours,” a weather bulletin said. Further, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur over south coastal Andhra Pradesh during next 12 hours and over Rayalseema, north Kerala and south Karnataka during the next 24 hours.
Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu was the most affected, with damaged roads rendering it difficult for rescue teams including those from National Disaster Response Force and Fire and Rescue Services to reach the cyclone hit fishing hamlets. District Collector Amuthavalli said even as communication lines remained affected, over 5000 houses of fishermen had been damaged. An official said around 400 trees had been uprooted on the Cuddalore—Chidambaram road, resulting in suspension of vehicular movement. Power production at the Lignite Neyveli Corporation was affected as the mines were submerged. Bus services between Puducherry and Tamil Nadu and other distant pockets were suspended due to disruption of traffic. Power supply was suspended since last night as a precautionary measure.
At Chennai, the City Corporation moved more than 2700 persons to safer areas and had made all arrangements for providing food. Around 50 trees had been uprooted following the overnight squally winds, but no casualty or injury was reported, the civic agency said in a release. Sea condition was very high along and off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts and fishermen were not asked to venture into the sea. The Thane cyclone which crossed the coast early on Friday morning has left at least one person dead in Puducherry. The victim, Ezhil Rajan, died of wall collapse in his native Vamba Keerapalayam, a fishing hamlet. Puducherry Collectorate is yet to verify the reports that two more have died.
According to Collector S.B.Deepak Kumar, the damage is unprecedented. About 350 people have been evacuated from the coastal areas and have been moved to three shelters in safer areas. The Puducherry police is being helped by 30 persons belonging to the National Disaster Relief Force from Delhi, he said. "The damage is extensive and the cyclone is an unprecendented disaster. The entire police and other departments are now clearning theroads for traffic movement," the Collector added. Power supply was suspended around 10.30 p.m. on Thursday. About 200 trees besides electric polses were uprooted in the town of Puducherry and adjoining residential areas cutting off vehicular traffic. On all streets trees have been uprooted, sources said. The damage is more on the Puducherry-Cuddalore Road and the East Coast Road, which connects the town to Chennai.
The town experienced heavy winds from around 11 p.m. Thursday which intensified around 3 am and continued till 8 a.m. on Friday. There was not much rain till around 11 a.m. on Friday. More than 2,000 people living in coastal and low level areas have been moved to safer places. The Civil Supplies department is preparing more than 50,000 food packets to be served in the shelter homes and low level areas. Some resorts have shifted its patrons who had booked rooms for New Year's Eve revelry to hotels in the town. The strong winds on Friday night has left many residents rattled. Revenue department officials said that more than 90 per cent of electric poles in the town and coastal areas have been uprooted, resulting in disurption of mobile networks.
Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday morning briefed Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the situation in the aftermath of the cyclonic storm. Following the conversation, the Chief Minister has convened a meeting of his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials to assess the situation. "Probably by this evening or by Saturday morning we will be sending an interim report," he told. He further said that the damage cannot be assessed as of now "but it is unprecedented and heavy". He said the initial reports suggest that the wind speed was around 130 to 140 km after 3 a.m. "We haven't heard of such a calamity in the history of Puducherry," Mr Rangasamy said added. Cyclone Thane, packing wind speed of 140 kmph, made landfall on the coast between Cuddalore in Tamil and Puducherry Friday morning, officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) here said.
'The cyclone is in the process of crossing between Cuddalore and Puducherry coast. The wind speed is around 140 kmph at Puducherry and Cuddalore. Waves measuring 1.5 metres height are hitting the shoreline,.At 2 a.m. the cyclone moved closer to about 90 km east of Puducherry, 125 km south-southeast of Chennai, IMD said.'The storm is more of wind centric and not much of rain. Puducherry recorded 14 cm rain, while Cuddalore 7 cm.,' the official said, adding the weather will remain gloomy. Rainfall with heavy to very heavy falls was expected at a few places in north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The IMD has also predicted rainfall over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema.In Puducherry, as a matter of precaution, power has been switched off since 11 p.m. Thursday night.'We don't know what is happening in the outside world. All that we have been hearing since last night is the howling of the wind. Several trees have fallen down. Even mobile phone signals are not proper,' S. Ravikumar, a Puducherry resident, told
Chennai and Cuddalore have witnessed heavy wind and rain since Thursday night. In some places tress have been uprooted disrupting power lines and traffic.The sea has been rough and has inundated some residential areas along the East Coast Road connecting Chennai and Puducherry and people have been shifted to safer place.Traffic on the East Coast Road has been disrupted due to uprooted trees.The Tamil Nadu government has set up 20 teams to monitor the water levels in lakes and other water bodies in Chennai, Thiruvallur and other places.Eight teams of the National Disaster Management Force have been sent to the coastal districts.The railways has announced around two hour delay in the arrival of some trains to Chennai Egmore station. Fishermen along northern Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts were advised not to venture into the sea till Saturday afternoon.Tamil Nadu ports were in a state of high alert with Chennai and Ennore ports asking the ships to move out to safe distance. The public works department of the Tamil Nadu government has advised people living in low lying areas close to Red Hills, Chembarambakkam and Poondi reservoirs to move to safer places as surplus water will be released depending on the rain intensity.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Friday alloted Rs 150 crore for immediate relief measures and directed four ministers to visit the districts which bore the brunt of cyclonic storm 'Thane'.After chairing a meeting with senior department officials, Jayalalithaa said she had asked her cabinet colleagues B V Ramana, T K M Chinnaiah, K A Jeyapaul and M C Sampath to visit Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts, the worst hit by the storm which crossed the state coast this morning.She said the sum of Rs 150 crore would be used for immediate relief measures and for restoring basic infrastructure facilities. Besides, Jayalalithaa also directed the district collectors, deputy collectors and department secretaries to assess the extent of the damage caused by "Thane" and submit a report.
'The cyclone is in the process of crossing between Cuddalore and Puducherry coast. The wind speed is around 140 kmph at Puducherry and Cuddalore. Waves measuring 1.5 metres height are hitting the shoreline,.At 2 a.m. the cyclone moved closer to about 90 km east of Puducherry, 125 km south-southeast of Chennai, IMD said.'The storm is more of wind centric and not much of rain. Puducherry recorded 14 cm rain, while Cuddalore 7 cm.,' the official said, adding the weather will remain gloomy. Rainfall with heavy to very heavy falls was expected at a few places in north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The IMD has also predicted rainfall over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema.In Puducherry, as a matter of precaution, power has been switched off since 11 p.m. Thursday night.'We don't know what is happening in the outside world. All that we have been hearing since last night is the howling of the wind. Several trees have fallen down. Even mobile phone signals are not proper,' S. Ravikumar, a Puducherry resident, told
Chennai and Cuddalore have witnessed heavy wind and rain since Thursday night. In some places tress have been uprooted disrupting power lines and traffic.The sea has been rough and has inundated some residential areas along the East Coast Road connecting Chennai and Puducherry and people have been shifted to safer place.Traffic on the East Coast Road has been disrupted due to uprooted trees.The Tamil Nadu government has set up 20 teams to monitor the water levels in lakes and other water bodies in Chennai, Thiruvallur and other places.Eight teams of the National Disaster Management Force have been sent to the coastal districts.The railways has announced around two hour delay in the arrival of some trains to Chennai Egmore station. Fishermen along northern Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts were advised not to venture into the sea till Saturday afternoon.Tamil Nadu ports were in a state of high alert with Chennai and Ennore ports asking the ships to move out to safe distance. The public works department of the Tamil Nadu government has advised people living in low lying areas close to Red Hills, Chembarambakkam and Poondi reservoirs to move to safer places as surplus water will be released depending on the rain intensity.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Friday alloted Rs 150 crore for immediate relief measures and directed four ministers to visit the districts which bore the brunt of cyclonic storm 'Thane'.After chairing a meeting with senior department officials, Jayalalithaa said she had asked her cabinet colleagues B V Ramana, T K M Chinnaiah, K A Jeyapaul and M C Sampath to visit Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts, the worst hit by the storm which crossed the state coast this morning.She said the sum of Rs 150 crore would be used for immediate relief measures and for restoring basic infrastructure facilities. Besides, Jayalalithaa also directed the district collectors, deputy collectors and department secretaries to assess the extent of the damage caused by "Thane" and submit a report.
She said hundreds of trees had been uprooted, hampering the flow of traffic. Moreover, hundreds of electric posts have also fallen due to the cyclone, she said, directing officials to remove them by this evening. She said as a precautionary measure, around 6,000 people living in low lying areas were moved to safer places and power supply had been suspended in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Nagapattinam districts since last night. Four teams from National Disaster Management were also sent to Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Chennai and Tiruvallur districts, she said in a statement here.
Prof. John Kurakar
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