Commuters wade through a waterlogged road amid showers, in Chennai, on Saturday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Packing winds with a speed of 70 to 80 km per hour gusting up to 90 km per hour, Cyclone Fengal began its landfall near Puducherry on Saturday evening after dumping huge amounts of rainfall across coastal Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, leaving a trail of destruction and claiming at least three lives due to electrocution.
Heavy winds affected landing and take-off of aircraft, forcing the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to close operations at the Chennai Airport till 4 am on Sunday, leading to cancellation of over 100 domestic and international flights. The airport managed limited functioning till 12:00 pm but strong winds and water stagnation on the runway made it impossible for flights to operate from Chennai.
While Chennai and its neighbouring districts of Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, and Chengalpattu bore the brunt of the Cyclone, which kept guessing weathermen about its landfall, from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, it was the turn of Puducherry, Chengalpattu, and Villupuram to experience heavy rains and gusty winds since Saturday evening.
Lakhs of Chennaiites were confined to their homes for the whole of Saturday as many low-lying areas and densely populated localities like Velachery, Madipakkam, Pulianthope, Medavakkam, Tambaram, and Ashok Nagar came under water.
Seven subways were closed for traffic and heavy water stagnation was reported from many arterial roads, including the Kamarajar Salai on the Marina Beach, Anna Salai, and GST Road that connects Chennai with Tiruchirapalli. Rains receded in most parts of Chennai by Saturday evening though heavy winds continued to keep people indoors.
In its latest bulletin issued at 10:30 pm, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai said the landfall of Cyclone Fengal, which began at 7 pm, will complete in two hours (between 12:30 am to 1:30 am Sunday). Electricity was suspended in many parts of Chennai, Chengalpattu, and Puducherry as a precautionary measure, even as traffic was brought to a halt on the East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road during the landfall of the cyclone.
Avanipur in Villupuram district recorded a whopping 30 cm rainfall between 8:30 am on November 29 to 8:30 pm on November 30 followed by Athur in Chengalpattu (26.2 cm), Acharapakkam (24.56 cm), and Marakkanam (24.04 cm). Meenambakkam and Nungambakkam in Chennai received 11.4 cm and 10.4 cm rainfall respectively in just 12 hours ending 5.30 pm Saturday. Puducherry recorded 9.56 cm, Tiruninavur (13.15 cm), Chengalpattu (10.9 cm), Tiruttani (8.5 cm), Ranipet (8.25 cm), Mamallapuram (7.85 cm), Vellore (3.5 cm), and Cuddalore (3 cm).
Southern Railway partially cancelled operations on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram route and suspended operations on the Chennai Beach-Velachery sector due to heavy winds and waterlogging on the tracks.
A 25-year-old migrant worker, Chandan from Uttar Pradesh, Sakthivel from Velachery, and Isaivanan from north Chennai died due to electrocution on Saturday, in three casualties due to the cyclone.
Since the landfall began only late evening, the magnitude of the loss is expected to unfold only on Sunday. Gusty winds played havoc as hundreds of trees were uprooted and damaged several electric poles, bus shelters, light posts, and temporary structures along the coastline in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
“We believe that the damages from this cyclone will be minimal when compared to the cyclones we faced in the last two years. We expect the intensity of rains also to come down by Saturday night,” Revenue Minister K K S S R Ramachandran said.
He also said about 4,904 people have been lodged in 143 relief camps across Tamil Nadu, while more than three lakh food packets have been distributed to rain-affected people in Chennai.
Chief Minister M K Stalin, who inspected the Control Room, said all precautionary measures have been put in place to handle the cyclone. His son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin said about 1,700 motor pumps have been deployed to drain water out from several areas, while 27 uprooted trees have already been cleared.