Tamil Nadu limps back to normalcy after Cyclone Nivar landfall

Tamil Nadu escaped from the Cyclone Nivar with minimal impact to life and property though crops were damaged in the coastal district of Cuddalore.

When the cyclone was heading towards the coast on Wednesday night, the fear — considering its intensity — was the possibility of a widespread damage.

According to State government data at 4 pm today, three persons were killed and three injured due to the cyclone. Over 100 huts were damaged and the cyclone felled about 400 trees.

On crop loss, the data said that nearly 14 acres of banana trees were damaged; 331 acres of groundnut and 245 hectare of paddy. “It is too early to give a value on the damage as we keep getting data from various locations,” said a senior government official when asked for estimates of damage.

Precautionary measures

Over two lakh people were evacuated in the coastal districts to safety and accommodated at 3,085 relief camps. There were 921 permanent medical camps and 234 mobile medical camps, said government data.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that there was no major damage due to the cyclone due to the well-planned precautionary measures. People also cooperated well, he told newspersons at Cuddalore after inspecting the damage in the coastal district.

The Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority in a tweet at 3.45 pm said that Cyclonic Storm Nivar over north coastal Tamil Nadu moved north-westwards with a speed of 12 kmph during past six hours and lay centred at 1130 hrs about 95 Km south-southwest of Tirupathi and 105-km west of Chennai.

Home Minister’s assurance

Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Palaniswami and also Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanaswami. The Centre is closely monitoring the situation in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the wake of Cyclone Nivar. Shah assured all possible help from the Centre. NDRF teams are already on the ground to help people in need, he said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Chennai is slowly limping back to normalcy after heavy rains pounded the city in the last 48 hours. In the city, 288 lamp posts fell and were cleared.

Transport services

Flight operations that were suspended at the Chennai airport for nearly 14 hours since last night, resumed from 9 am on Thursday morning after the cyclone made a landfall. State run buses started to ply from the afternoon in seven districts, including Chengalpattu and Cuddalore.

While special trains from Egmore to various places like Mangaluru and Alapuzha will be run as per schedule, the workmen/suburban train services in Chennai also commenced, says a release from Southern Railway.

Chief Minister Palaniswami appreciated the efforts of Greater Chennai Corporation in carrying out various relief measures. “I am overwhelmed by the commitment and support provided by @chennaicorp and team in handling the #NivarCylone. Let us together set a good benchmark in handling such natural disasters with our robust systems and processes in place,” he said in a tweet.

Except for low lying areas such as Taramani and Velachery, the city was free from water stagnation.

Meanwhile, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the South Bay of Bengal around November 29. It is likely to become more marked and move westwards towards South Tamil Nadu, says IMD Chennai.