 "Vardah")
A cyclonic storm ‘Vardah’, the most intense to have hit the Tamil Nadu capital in two decades, claimed four lives, flattened homes, snapped communication lines and threw into disarray rail, road and air traffic as it crossed the coast here, pounding Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram with heavy rain and squall.
Thousands were evacuated as roaring wind clocking speeds of 100 km an hour uprooted trees, tore off hoardings and toppled cars. Two fishermen were reported missing off the Andhra coast in Kakinada and the Coast Guard has deployed ship for search operations. Though no major loss of life or property has been reported from Andhra Pradesh so far, heavy rains lashed Chittoor and SPS Nellore district. Public transport came to a standstill in Chennai, with buses and suburban trains suspended and airport shut. Rail, road and air traffic, official sources said, were likely to be restored by Tuesday.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) would review the situation at the airport, from where no flight has taken place since this morning at 9 pm to decide on resumption of services, a senior official said. NOTAM (notice to airmen ) was issued to the airport authorities Monday morning after strong cyclonic winds and poor visibility hit Chennai and other parts of the state, throwing life out of gear. Rail and flight services have been affected by heavy rain and strong winds that lashed the city and other coastal areas of Tamil Nadu due to cyclone Vardah.
Following this, the operations at the airport was suspended, resulting in diversion of 25 incoming flights, including those from international destinations, to the nearby Hyderabad and Bangaluru airports. Besides, nearly 25 outbound flights were delayed.
"As of now, operations at the Chennai airport remain suspended. There is no damage to the runway, But we have shut radars because of the high speed winds. There is some power supply issue at the ATC complex, which the local authorities are trying to restore. But we have all other contingency measures in place," a senior AAI official in Delhi said.
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The official said that the NOTAM will be reviewed around 9 pm and the decision to resume services will be taken based on the situation at that time.
Most commercial establishments downed shutters in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts.
"After 1994, this is the first very severe cyclonic storm to hit Chennai coast. The storm has completely crossed the coast as expected (this evening)," a senior Met Official here told PTI.
Civic workers used hand-held battery-operated wood cutters to remove hundreds of uprooted trees lying on the roads.
Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF were deployed for rescue efforts as army was put on standby.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said in Delhi that four people were killed in the storm in Tamil Nadu, while six teams of NDRF and four of SDRF were engaged in rescue efforts.
About 8,000 people from low-lying areas in north Chennai, Pazhaverkadu in Tiruvallur district and villages off Mamallapuram, in Kanchipuram district were safely evacuated to 95 relief shelters, officials said.
In Andhra Pradesh, over 9,400 people living along the Bay of Bengal were evacuated to relief camps amid heavy rain.
Also, separate teams of personnel drawn from the health, sanitary and electricity departments were deployed for relief operations in low-lying areas of the three storm-hit Tamil Nadu districts.
The Met department said the intensity of wind and rainfall would recede after 'Vardah' made landfall near Chennai between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm.
Coastal regions of northern Tamil Nadu - Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram - continue to be on high alert even as people in low-lying areas were accommodated in relief centres.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to take stock of the situation in the two states and promised all help.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Nadu apprised the Home Minister of the damage caused by the cyclone and steps taken for the rescue and relief.
