Waterlogging, trail of damage as Cyclone Mandous crosses Tamil Nadu coast

Waterlogging, uprooted trees and trail of damage defined the scenes in parts of Tamil Nadu as severe cyclonic storm – Mandous – crossed the Tamil Nadu coast near Mahabalipuram on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

The storm has weakened now and is set to weaken further in the coming hours. But heavy downpour in areas of influence is expected to continue. Flights and trains were affected and a huge deployment of rescue troops was seen ahead of the landfall.

Here are top points on Cyclone Mandous:

1) In its latest update, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Cyclone Mandous – pronounced as “Man-Dous” -crossed north Tamil Nadu coast close to Mamallapuram. It “moved northwestwards with a speed of 15 km per during past six hours and weakened into a deep depression over north Tamil Nadu”.

2) On Friday, Chennai and 15 other districts in Tamil Nadu saw heavy downpour in many parts. About a dozen flights were said to be affected.

3) Visuals posted by news agency ANI showed how usual life was thrown out of gear with heavy waterlogging on streets.

4) In Andhra Pradesh, holidays was declared in educational institutions and coastal districts were on alert, including several places in Nellore, Annamayya, Chittoor and Tirupati. Many parts experienced winds of 50 kmph, gusting up to 70 km per hour.

5) Fishermen were advised to stay away from coasts. “The families of fisherman closer to the coast in Sullurpet area closer to Sriharikota are being evacuated to safer places and fishermen have been asked not to venture into sea,” Andhra Pradesh chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy was quoted as saying in a report by HT earlier.