Cyclonic storm Nivar clobbers south India; power supply disrupted in several cities

In this India Meteorological Department (IMD) released satellite image captured on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, Cyclone Nivar, over the southwest Bay of Bengal.

In the past 24 hours till Thursday morning, 164 places in Andhra Pradesh witnessed rainfall of more than 60 mm as the very severe cyclonic storm Nivar lashed the whole state.

Around 1,200 National Disaster Response Force personnel have been deployed in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as well, NDRF chief SN Pradhan told PTI. 12 teams are in Tamil Nadu (six in Cuddalore district and two in Chennai), seven in Andhra Pradesh and three in Puducherry. An additional 20 teams will be on standby in Odisha's Cuttack, Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh and Thrissur in Kerala.

Cyclone Nivar made landfall near the city of Puducherry, located near the southern state of Tamil Nadu, with winds of up to 130 km per hour (81 miles per hour), according to the India Meteorological Department.

Heavy rains from the storm caused flooding in some streets of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu's largest city which is home to many large automobile manufacturers.

SN Pradhan, DG, National Disaster Response Force, said more than 30,000 people have been evacuated from Tamil Nadu and 7,000 people have been evacuated from Puducherry. Central, state & local governments are working in tandem. All efforts are being made to minimise damage.

Local administration workers have been working to remove fallen trees and power lines, city corporation officials said on Twitter.

Local government officials in Chennai released water from the Chembarambakkam Lake, one of the reservoirs, cleared fallen trees and readied relief centres as they evacuated people from low lying areas.

The cyclonic storm Nivar would continue to move northwestwards and weaken further into a deep depression during next 06 hours and into a depression by subsequent 06 hours," the IMD said on its twitter handle.

Vessels in the city's port have been moved to sea and port operations will likely remain shut until the cyclone makes landfall, a senior port official said.