Tamil Nadu: Depression to intensify, more rains expected

CHENNAI: A low-pressure system over the South Andaman Sea is expected to turn into a depression bringing more rains to Tamil Nadu, even as the Tamil Nadu government was involved with Central agencies to get back three districts of Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi to normalcy after having been ravaged by Cyclone Ockhi.

Cyclone Ockhi, which in Bengali means ‘eye’, that brought heavy rains to the three districts on Thursday and Friday intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and moved to the Arabian Sea, while the well-marked low pressure is expected to turn into a depression in the next 48 hours bringing more rains to Tamil Nadu.
“A well-marked low pressure is lying over South Andaman Sea and its neighbourhood. It is expected to concentrate into a depression in the next 48 hours. In the next 24 hours, more rainfall is expected in most places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Heavy rainfall can be expected in Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni and Dindigul,” S Balachandran, Director, Regional Meteorological Centre, said.

Authorities moved into the three districts ravaged due to Cyclone Ockhi to bring them back to normalcy even as Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs 4 lakh each to families of those killed due to rain-related incidents. He also reviewed the situation in the districts with senior officials and announced that power supply would be restored in these affected districts in the next couple of days.

Damage to power and communication lines due to breaking of tree branches and uprooting of more than 500 large avenue trees in many places across Tamil Nadu forced authorities to declare school holiday in Chennai, Kanniyakumari, Thiruvarur, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts. Train services were also affected due to torrential rain in Nagercoil-Kanyakumari section leading to the cancellation of three trains, while nine of them were partially cancelled and one remained rescheduled.

Clearance of highways blocked due to the uprooting of trees was also done on major routes in Tirunelveli, Nagercoil and Kanyakumari. The Coast Guard deployed two ships - Vaibhav and Aadesh - besides a Dornier aircraft for search and rescue operations in the sea off Kanyakumari. Regional Meteorological Centre also said that Chennai is expected to get heavy spells in the next 24 hours as the bands of clouds are likely to bring more rains.