Cyclone Fengal: Heavy rains drench coastal Tamil Nadu as storm approaches landfall; Chennai Airport shut till 7 pm

Chennai: Packing winds with the speed of 80-100 km, Cyclone Fengal was on Saturday afternoon approaching the coast, dumping huge amounts of rainfall across coastal Tamil Nadu and confining lakhs of people inside their homes in Chennai and its neighbouring districts.

Heavy winds affected landing and take-off of aircraft since Saturday morning forcing the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to close operations at the Chennai Airport till 7 pm. Over 22 flights, including departures and arrivals, were cancelled since Saturday morning, while Indigo closed its operations even before the airport management took a call to suspend its functions.

“Chennai Airport operations will be suspended from 1230 hrs to 1900 hrs on 30.11.2024 (Today) following safety concerns raised by stakeholder airlines,” the airport said in a statement.

With the landfall expected to take place in the next few hours, the Southern Railway suspended local trains on the Chennai Beach-Velachery section from 12.15 pm, even as seven subways and several roads were closed for traffic due to waterlogging. Inundation was reported from several places across the city and suburbs with people being confined to their homes – the government has opened relief centres and is distributing food packets to the needy.

Track live updates from Cyclone Fengol here

The state government has temporarily closed East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road (ECR & OMR) for vehicular traffic since the cyclone is expected to make landfall near Puducherry. The rains, which began Friday night, continued in many parts of the city at the time of writing with intense spells being reported.

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai has warned that the intensity of the rains will pick up as the cyclone nears the coast. Independent weather bloggers, who are quite popular on social media, have been posting regular updates on the rains by asking people to expect extremely heavy rainfall till the cyclone makes its landfall.

Though the RMC said the landfall will take place by Saturday evening, independent weather expert Pradeep John said it could be postponed to early Sunday.

Upscale Anna Nagar and Ennore in north Chennai recorded about 10 cm and 8 cm rainfall respectively since Friday night when the intense spell of rains began in the city, while the total rainfall in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu till 8.30 am on Saturday is about 12 cm.

The cyclone is expected to pack winds with a speed of 80-90 km per hour gusting up to 100 km per hour, prompting suspension of electricity supply in many parts of Chennai and its suburbs.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, who inspected the Control Room, said all precautionary measures have been put in place to handle the cyclone.

The government has declared a holiday for schools and colleges in nine districts while it has decided to suspend traffic on the East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road during the landfall of the cyclone. NDRF teams have been sent to Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai, and Nagapattinam districts to carry out relief operations.