Two people have died as Cyclone Vardah hit the coast just north of Chennai on Monday afternoon. Strong winds and rain lashed the city, uprooting trees and shattering glass in buildings. The cyclone made landfall with a wind speed of about 130 kmph.
The Met department has repeatedly asked people to stay indoors. Roads are flooded in many places. Flight operations have been suspended at the Chennai airport till 6 pm, but there are no reports of flooding on the runway.
Photographs posted on social media showed the glass panels on the front facade of the five-star Hyatt hotel in Chennai blow away. In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, a tanker toppled over on a highway, so strong were the winds as the cyclone hit coast.There is a brief lull in the rain and strong winds for now, but it is expected to resume and intensify after a while.
More than 7,000 people have been evacuated from near the sea in northern Tamil Nadu. About 9,000 people have been evacuated in Andhra Pradesh and the Navy, Air Force and Army are ready for any rescue operations if needed in either state.
Classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, Vardah will take about four hours to cross land completely. The weatherman has said there will be heavy to very heavy rain in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next 36 hours.
In Chennai, 174 shelters have been set up for those evacuated and 600 pump have been stationed to pump out water if necessary from the roads of the city.
This time, the administration says, it is well prepared. New Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam has constantly reviewed the situation.
