NEW DELHI, Dec 1: At least three people were killed in separate rain-related incidents in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu as Cyclone ‘Fengal’ after making landfall near Puducherry on Saturday night weakened on Sunday causing heavy rainfall and flooding on its way.
Among the three fatalities, one was a migrant worker who was electrocuted while trying to withdraw cash from an ATM in Chennai. His body was later found floating near the area.
Torrential downpour under its influence paralysed the union territory, with the Army stepping in to evacuate stranded persons in inundated streets. Puducherry has declared holiday for all schools and colleges on Monday due to continuous heavy rainfall, the Education Minister A. Namachivayam announced.
According to the latest update from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Fengal has weakened into a deep depression. “The Cyclonic Storm FENGAL (pronounced as FEINJAL) over north coastal Tamil Nadu & Puducherry remained practically stationary during past 12 hours, weakened into a deep depression and lay centred at 1130 hours IST of today, the 1st December 2024 over the same region near latitude 12.0°N and longitude 79.8°E, close to Puducherry, about 30 km north of Cuddalore, 40 km east of Villupuram and 120 km south-southwest of Chennai,” the weather office said in a post on X.
It is likely to move westwards very slowly and weaken gradually into a depression over north Tamil Nadu during the next 12 hours, it added. “Cyclone Fengal has crossed North Tamil Nadu between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm yesterday night… It is moving towards the westward direction… During the past 6 hours, it was stationary at the same place… It is likely to move westwards very slowly,” Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre MD KVS Srinivas said.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Puducherry as the Union Territory saw 46 cm of rain, battering the previous best of 21 cm recorded on October 31, 2004, causing flooding of streets in many areas.
Cyclone Fengal triggered heavy rainfall, leading to inundation of all residential areas on the outskirts of boulevard limits. Trees were uprooted at various places under the impact of the cyclonic storm. Power outage was reported in most of the localities since 11 pm on Saturday.
The Indian Army and NDRF teams were called in to carry out the rescue operations in several areas of the Union Territory on a formal request made by the District Collector in the wake of the extreme situation. According to a Defence release, about 200 people were rescued from three different locations in Puducherry, including Krishna Nagar.
Many housing colonies were waterlogged and residents could not step out of the dwellings for hours together. Two-wheelers and cars parked on roads partially submerged in rainwater that entered several houses, residents said.
The cyclonic storm, which led to extreme weather conditions in Tamil Nadu, affected several flights in Chennai, prompting authorities to issue travel advisories for commuters amid heavy rain.
Flight operations resumed at Chennai International Airport at 4.00 am on Sunday after Cyclone Fengal made its landfall. The authorities suspended the flight services on Saturday due to the impact of the cyclonic storm.
In the aftermath of the heavy rain in Chennai, several hospitals and houses were left severely inundated as the civic volunteers were seen carrying out the restoration work on a ‘war footing.’ Traffic barricades were swept away and commuters were seen finding cover as heavy downpours affected many areas in and around Chennai.
Rainwater also flooded the premises of two state-run hospitals in Chromepet—a general hospital and a thoracic medicine facility—both located adjacent to each other and regularly visited by the public.
A little over 1000 people have been accommodated in 32 camps and food and water was being provided to them. Further, till Sunday, 9.10 lakh food packets have been distributed, while food was being provided free of cost through state-run Amma canteens and this has benefited about 1.07 lakh persons, the Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said.
(Manas Dasgupta)