Cyclone Nivar crosses TN and Puducherry coast near Puducherry
text_fields
Image credit: PTI
Chennai : The cyclonic storm Nivar began landfall on Wednesday night about 10.30 pm, and crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast , reports say.
It was moving at an estimated wind speed of 120-130kmph, according to The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday.
The devastating gale uprooted trees in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district. Authorities are busy removing the fallen trees.
The cyclone hovers over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry about 25km north of Puducherry with wind blowing at a speed of 90-100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph, according to the weather department.
Nivar will move northwest wards and weaken further into a cyclonic storm in the next three hours, the IMD said.
It made landfall on Wednesday night after moving at a speed of 16 kmph for six hours.
According to the weather department Nivar crossed the coasts between 11.30 p.m. on November 25 and 2.30 a.m on November 26.
Even after landfall, the system is likely to maintain its cyclone intensity for about six hours and weaken gradually.
The sea along the coast is very rough with huge waves battering the shores.
Under its influence rainfall at most/many places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places with isolated extremely heavy falls likely to occur over Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Vellore districts of Tamilnadu and Chittoor, Kurnool, Prakasam and Cuddappa districts of Andhra Pradesh on November 26.
Gale wind speed reaching 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph very likely to prevail over interior districts (Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Vellore) of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh during November 26 early morning to forenoon, the weather department said.
The Puducherry government too has announced Thursday as public holiday.
Twenty five teams from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed on the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh.
IANS report with edits
