Three people were killed and an equal number injured as the very severe cyclonic storm Nivar wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry yesterday.
Accurate forecasting and the evacuation of several hundred thousand people helped a major loss of life, authorities said yesterday, as rescuers worked to restore power and clear fallen trees.
Nivar made landfall at 3.05am (2135GMT) near Puducherry, packing gusts of up to 130kms per hour, uprooting trees and bringing torrential rain of up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) in a few hours in some parts.
Thousands of emergency personnel were deployed in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry as authorities began restoring power that had been suspended to prevent damage to the electricity grid.
“The people have given us full co-operation,” said Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam. “It’s a solace that nothing untoward happened and the weakening of the cyclone is good news,” he said, adding that 250,000 people were housed in shelters in the state as a precaution.
Rescue workers were using heavy machinery to remove hundreds of trees uprooted in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the Press Trust of India reported.
Electricity pylons were also toppled in some areas, and several flash floods were reported.
Chief Minister K.Palaniswami appreciated the work done by the Chennai corporation and Chennai police in clearing fallen trees and helping the needy.
Palaniswami also visited Cuddalore to inspect the cyclone damages and meet the affected people.
Initially classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm” as it swirled in the Bay of Bengal, Nivar weakened after landfall into a “severe cyclonic storm”, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
“No major damage has been reported in Tamil Nadu. We are assessing the situation but things are returning to normalcy,” an official at the State Disaster Response Force said.
Ahead of the arrival of the storm – a regular and often deadly occurrence in the Bay of Bengal – local authorities declared a public holiday Wednesday and yesterday, shutting everything except emergency services. Flights at Chennai airport were suspended until yesterday morning and metro train services halted. Bus services that were stopped from November 24 afternoon ahead of the cyclone resumed yesterday in seven districts of Tamil Nadu.