Cyclone ‘Fengal’ hits Tamil Nadu, but weakened

(‘Fengal’ is an Arabic word which means ‘indifferent’)

New Delhi – The cyclone, Fengal, hit Tamil Nadu sea coast. It has caused weak depression in the neighbouring areas of Puducherry, Kuddalore and Villupuram and likely to move westward very slowly and weaken gradually according to IMD. Earlier on 30^th November this cyclone had had hit the east coast of Puducherry at 5.30 p.m. The wind speed was 90 km/h, as a result there was torrential rain in 7 districts of Tamil Nadu including Chennai, as well as in the coastal areas of Puducherry, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Chennai sea coast witnessed waves up to a metre high. As safety measure, the airport was closed from 12.30 p.m. to evening 7 p.m for all flights . Since the heavy rain lashed throughout the night, on 1^stDecember early morning till 4 a.m. the flights were cancelled by Airport Authorities. It resulted into cancellation of 55 flights from Chennai. 12 Flights arriving from outside were diverted to Bengaluru airport. According to Chennai Science Centre, rain is likely to continue for another three days.

According to Indian Meteorological Department there is a possibility of rain in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.