Cyclone Thane kills 33 in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry

Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority Marri Sashidhar Reddy told Khaleej Times that 16 casualties had been reported from the two states till 1pm. “Though we do not expect the casualty figure to go up drastically with the weakening of the cyclonic storm, there is a possibility that some more deaths would be reported,” he said.

Stating that most of the deaths were related to building collapse, Reddy said: “Under the impact of heavy rainfall and gusty winds, old structures tend to collapse and most of the 16 deaths have been caused by it. The level of preparedness has also gone up not only in terms of improved warning and communication systems but also due to public awareness on the impact that such natural calamities can have.”

Reddy, who is also a legislator from Andhra Pradesh, said the early alert issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on December 25 had also helped a lot in minimising casualties and damage. “After the IMD alert on the cyclone, we had warned fishermen along the Andhra coast not to venture out into the sea. But, about 80 fishermen who had gone out before December 25 were caught in the sea. Most of them, however, managed to return home or were rescued,” he said, adding that about 15 fishermen in three boats were still out in the sea but the location of two of these boats had been identified and efforts were on to rescue them.

“Hopefully, the worst is over since the cyclone has now weakened into a depression and is likely to weaken further by tonight,” he said. According to bulletin issued by the IMD, Thane which was hovering over north Tamil Nadu near Cuddalore has moved further westward and weakened rapidly into a deep depression and lay centered at 1130 hrs on Friday. The system is likely to move westwards and weaken further. Under the influence of this system, heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur over north interior Tamil Nadu during the next 24 hours. Rainfall would occur at many places with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during the next 12 hours and over Rayalseema, north Kerala and south Karnataka during the next 24 hours.

IANS adds from Chennai: In Tamil Nadu coastal district Cuddalore, where teh cyclone hit with full force, reported 21 deaths while the remaining dead are from Villupuram (2), Tiruvallur (2) and Chennai (1). Standing paddy crop on around 25,000 acres of land in the Cauvery delta region is estimated to have been damaged due the high speed cyclonic wind. Thousands of people reached relief camps in Cuddalore as the strong wind blew off the thatched roofs of houses.

The wind also uprooted hundreds of trees, electric poles, traffic signal poles and mobile phone towers, and damaged standing crops across the coastal districts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

A Korean cargo ship OSM Arena anchored out in the sea started drifting towards Chennai shore due to the strong current and wind. The ship is now standing at a safe distance and steps to tow the vessel to safer waters will be taken on Saturday. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy held emergency meetings with their officials to assess the situation and take out relief measures. Expressing her grief and offering condolecences to the breaved families, Jayalalithaa announced a solatium of Rs 200,000 to the next of kin of the dead. She also ordered release of Rs1.5 billion for relief and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure.

news@khaleejtimes .com

(With IANS inputs)