Invading the area with violent gusts and up to exceptionally heavy downpours from late Friday night to early Saturday morning, Cyclonic Storm Mandous caused devastation along the southeast coast of India.
Between 11:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. last night, the cyclone made landfall close to Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu. During that time, it generated howling winds that raged at 65-75 kph with gusts as high as 85 kph. These extreme conditions reminded Chennai residents of nature's unmatched wrath and prevented them from falling asleep.
Following Cyclone Mandous' late-night Friday landfall with winds of 75 kilometres per hour along the coast, four persons have died throughout Tamil Nadu. Now a deep depression, the cyclone is weakening.
Rain fell in Chennai up to 115 mm. According to Chief Minister M K Stalin, as the weather system reached the coast between December 9 and 10, almost 400 trees in Chennai were damaged by winds of 70 kmph.
Along with shops along the seashore, boats have been damaged in Kovalam, which is close to Mamallapuram.
"The tin roofs of shops have got blown away. Fisheries and revenue officials are examining damages to boats" said Shobana Thangam, President of Kovalam Village Panchayat.
Ahead of the landfall, 13 domestic and three international flights were cancelled at the Chennai airport due to bad weather.
It was formerly rated as a "Severe Cyclonic Storm," the fourth-highest intensity category on the scale, with gusts between 89 and 117 km/h. Since then, it has reduced to a "Cyclonic Storm" with gusts between 62 and 88 km/h.
The Tamil Nadu government has opened more than 5,000 aid centres in addition to stationing National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in ten districts. There are 28 such centres now home to 1,058 families in the Chengalpattu district alone.
