More than 100 fishermen were missing as the ‘very severe’ cyclonic storm ‘Thane’ continued to batter the Andhra Pradesh coast and is all set to lash north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry early on Friday morning, bringing copious rainfall in adjoining areas of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the next 48 hours, Indian Meteorological Department has warned.
Cyclone ‘Thane’ over the Southwest Bay of Bengal has been gathering intensity since December 25 and is set to hit the coast with a windspeed of 100-120 km per hour between 4 and 6 am on Friday, impacting Puducherry and four TN districts – Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Villupuram, IMD director-general Ajit Tyagi said in New Delhi.
The Met agency has advised local administrations to evacuate people from low-lying areas. Standing crops of rice, maize and groundnut may be damaged. The 20 ships docked at the Chennai port have been cautioned to move out and anchor at deep sea. Some 20 crew members of a private ship from Qatar carrying raw materials for a chemical plant near Cuddalore are stranded in mid-sea, unable to enter the minor port there due to the rough sea. Efforts were on to rescue the stranded people, official sources said.
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