2 weeks Ago By Arun Nair
New Delhi: Heavy rains lashed several parts of north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry ahead of the landfall of Cyclone 'Fengal,' affecting normalcy and prompting evacuation. The weather has also affected operations at the Chennai airport. In the neighbouring union territory Puducherry, people living in low-lying areas were evacuated.
The cyclone, currently north-northwest of the Bay of Bengal, is expected to make landfall near Puducherry this evening. Fearing flash floods in low-lying areas, residents in Chennai have parked their vehicles on flyovers. Residents fear a repeat of October, when about 120 luxury cars were stranded on waterlogged roads.
This left them at the mercery of recovery services agencies, who were overwhelmed with calls for assistance. Luxury vehicles are equipped with sensitive electronic systems, and require specialized recovery methods. Chennai and nearby districts have started witnessing high tides and gusty winds.
Many parts of the city suffered inundation and trees were uprooted. Though cyclone is expected to weaken into a depression post-landfall, it will still bring moderate to heavy rain and rough sea conditions. Fishermen have been urged to stay ashore.
With city witnessing strong winds with velocities ranging between 65-73 kmph, suburban services between Chennai Beach and Velachery in the MRTS Section were suspended from 12.15 pm onwards, officials announced. Chennai Metro Rail said its services were operational without any glitches and informed public of parking areas in specific stations that were prone to inundation.
Airport authorities declared suspension of all operations till 7 pm starting from 12.30 pm. Departure and arrival schedule of both domestic and international flights were affected.
Some of the flights were diverted to Bengaluru and Tiruchirappalli and at least 18 flights were cancelled and 12 other flights were delayed. The government had already declared November 30 a holiday for educational institutions and requested IT firms to make their employees work from home. In Puducherry, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Arakonam has arrived to engage in relief and rehabilitation works.
According to Collector Kulothungan, cyclone Fengal was expected to cross the coast in the evening. Control rooms have been opened in the collectorate and also in the line departments. The entire stretch of beach road and also several tourist spots were closed to restrict public movement.
Schools and colleges remained closed today. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Chennai and around the world..
