Cyclone Mandous leaves 4 dead in TN, uproots 400 trees in Chennai alone
Cyclone Mandous, which made landfall late Friday night and has now weakened into a deep depression, left four persons dead in Tamil Nadu and some 400 trees uprooted in Chennai alone. Around 185 houses were reportedly damaged in the state and so were several cars as walls collapsed on them.
The storm crossed the coast with a wind speed of 75 km an hour, bringing up to 115 mm of rain in Chennai. Chief Minister MK Stalin, who reviewed the situation in the city’s Kasimedu area, told reporters that the government’s preventive measures had thwarted major damage.
Also read: Cyclone Mandous effect: TN sees sharp decline in power usage
“With advanced planning, this government proved any disaster can be managed,” he said.
#WATCH | Heavy rains with strong winds in Pattinapakkam area of Chennai as landfall process of cyclone #Mandous begins. pic.twitter.com/tVFN7nbPYH
— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2022
Apart from opening more than 5,000 relief centres, the Tamil Nadu government had kept National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams ready in 10 districts. In Chengalpattu district alone, 1,058 families were moved to 28 relief centres.
Power restored to half of affected areas
The cyclone began landfall around 11.30 pm on Friday and crossed the coast near Tamil Nadu’s Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) around 1.30 am. Hundreds of trees were uprooted in Chengalpattu and neighbouring Chennai. In Kovalam, near Mamallapuram, boats and shops along the seashore were damaged. Marina Beach in Chennai went completely under water.
Watch: Cyclone Mandous triggers heavy rain in TN, Andhra
Many trees fell on electric poles and around 25,000 civic workers are already involved in cleaning activities. Around 600 areas suffered power cuts as the storm damaged electric poles and transformers. Power has been restored to 300 of those areas. “The rest of the work will be done by evening,” Stalin said.
The Tamil Nadu government has said the loss is being estimated. If necessary, it will seek the Centre’s help.
#Mandous புயலின் காரணமாக மெரினாவில் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள மாற்றுத்திறனாளிகளுக்கான 380 மீட்டர் நீளமுள்ள நடைபாதையில் கடலுக்கு மிக அருகில் உள்ள பகுதியின் முனை மட்டுமே சேதமடைந்துள்ளது. சேதமடைந்த பகுதி விரைவில் சரிசெய்யப்படும்.#chennairains pic.twitter.com/ibGEvaWiPN
— DMK IT WING (@DMKITwing) December 9, 2022
Heavy rain in Andhra
Between 6 am on Friday and 6 am on Saturday, 30 flights (domestic and international, nine in-bound, 21 outbound) were cancelled or diverted because of the storm.
The storm affected Andhra Pradesh, too. Heavy rain was reported in several parts of south coastal and Rayalaseema districts of Andhra Pradesh early on Saturday. According to the state government, Naidupeta in Tirupati district received the highest rainfall at 281.5 mm over 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Saturday. In Chittoor, rivers overflowed, submerging roads and disrupting traffic.
Cyclone Mandous, named by the United Arab Emirates, means “treasure box” in Arabic. It was initially graded as a Severe Cyclonic Storm (winds of 89–117 kmph). It later came down to Cyclonic Storm (winds of 62–88 kmph). Now it has weakened further into a deep depression.
(With agency inputs)
