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funds,” he said.
The cyclonic storm Mandous weakened into a deep depression over the north Tamil Nadu coast and will gradually weaken into a depression as it moves west-northwestwards by noon on Saturday, as per the IMD.
The storm made landfall off Mamallapuram around Friday midnight and brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to parts of coastal Tamil Nadu including the capital Chennai. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) issued an advisory to all to avoid going out until the cyclonic storm weakens. “Almost 65 trees have fallen down in 3 hours and GCC is taking measures to remove them. Motor pumps are being used to remove water stagnation in low lying saucer shaped areas,” it said.
The cyclone’s strength is weakening and it is moving west-northwestwards so areas in the northwest districts will witness strong winds of 55-65 kmph, which will decrease by evening to 30-40 kmph, said S Balachandran, DDGM, RMC Chennai.
Apart from this, waterlogging due to the storm was reported in Arumbakkam and Pattinapakkam areas of Chennai. The Tamil Nadu Education Department declared another holiday on Saturday for schools and colleges in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Villupuram, Kancheepuram , Cuddallore and Ranipet districts.
As many as 16,000 police personnel and 1,500 Home guards have been deployed in Tamil Nadu for security, relief and rescue tasks, and a 40-member team of TN State Disaster Response Force, in addition to 12 District Disaster Response Force teams are on standby, police said.
Already, nearly 400 personnel of the NDRF and State Disaster Response Force teams have been stationed in coastal regions, including those near the Cauvery delta areas.
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin held a meeting Friday at the State Emergency Operation Centre at Chepauk, with Revenue & Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran and other senior officials of the Disaster Management Department, in view of cyclone Mandous.
Heavy rains and strong winds were also experienced in Puducherry. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy chaired a meeting on Thursday to review the territorial government’s preparedness in case of exigencies arising due to heavy rainfall expected to pound Puducherry and Karaikal under the influence of a cyclonic storm over Bay of Bengal.
Balachandran earlier told reporters that between Chennai and Puducherry, 12 cyclones have crossed the coast in the past 130 years from 1891 to 2021. “If this cyclone crosses the coast near Mamallapuram, it will be the 13th cyclone to cross the coast (between Chennai and Puducherry).
Cyclone Mandous, pronounced ‘Man-Dous’, means treasure box in Arabic. The Cyclone was named by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), being a member of World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
The well-marked low pressure area over southeast Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on December 6 and it further intensified into a “deep depression” on Wednesday.
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