CHENNAI: Batten down the hatches! The Regional Meterological Centre on Sunday has issued a red alert for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram for Monday as the Cyclone Michaung is expected to bring extremely heavy rains with thunderstorms, lightning and strong winds in these districts. Gale wind with speed reaching 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph are likely to occur over Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tiruvallur districts. Strong wind with speed reaching 50-60 kmph, gusting to 70 kmph is likely to occur over Villupuram and Cuddalore districts. An orange alert has been issued for Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet and Villupuram.
The state government has announced a public holiday for Monday in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu and issued an advisory to private firms to facilitate work from home options for employees due to the storm. Schools and colleges will be closed on Monday in Ranipet and Villupuram districts as well as in Puducherry. The centre of the cyclone storm is expected to come as close as 100 to 150 km to Chennai, said S Balachandran, deputy director general of meteorology at the RMC.
“It is important to note that a red alert might not bring extremely heavy rain across the districts, but only at one or two places. The cyclonic storm, which was moving at a speed of up to 18 kmph in the past few days, has slowed down and is moving at an average of 7-8 kmph by Sunday night. As of Sunday night, the storm was at about 210 km southeast of Chennai. The rains are likely to intensify from Sunday night and last till Monday night. The circumstances are favourable for the cyclone to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm,” Balakrishnan said during a media briefing on Sunday night.
The storm is likely to continue to move north-northwestwards, intensify further and reach west-central Bay of Bengal off south Andhra and adjoining north Tamil Nadu coast by Monday forenoon. Thereafter, it would move nearly northwards almost parallel and close to the south Andhra coast and cross the south Andhra coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam on the forenoon of December 5 as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90 kmph gusting to 110 kmph, said the forecast. Heavy to very heavy rain is also likely to occur at one or two places over Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram districts while heavy rain is likely to occur at one or two places over Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Tirupattur districts on Monday.
“The cyclone will give good rains to the Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chennai and Chengalpattu region. Historically, the cyclones which have had a similar path — coming close to Chennai and moving towards Andhra — have given good rainfall to the four districts. This is the third named cyclone since October 1. The previous two went towards Yeman and Bangladesh,” said weather blogger Pradeep John.
In preparation for the anticipated heavy rains and the need for rescue and relief efforts in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the TN government has designated one IAS officer for each of the 15 zones within the GCC. Additionally, IAS officers have been appointed to monitor the situation at the Avadi and Tambaram corporations as well.
SBI postpones exams scheduled for today
Due to the heavy rain forecast of the IMD, the State Bank of India’s Chennai circle has postponed its exam scheduled on December 4, across 15 venues of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The press note of the SBI said the new date for the examination will be announced shortly.
Safe cyclone
Dos
Keep windows closed till the cyclonic storm crosses
Keep sufficient stock of essentials like drinking water
Drink only boiled water
People living in low-lying areas should move to relief camps and government shelters in advance
Fishermen should park boats with sufficient space between each of them
Keep emergency medical kit and things like torchlight and matchboxes ready
Don’ts
Don’t stand on open terraces
Don’t park the vehicles under trees
Don’t travel in vehicles when the cyclonic storm crosses
Don’t spread fake news
Fishermen should not venture into the sea
Don’t take shelter in damaged buildings
Don’t stand near trees, electricity poles, etc
Don’t venture outside unnecessarily
Don’t assume cyclonic storm has crossed as the velocity of wind slows down; after a lull, it may blow with reinvigorated velocity.