Cyclone Gaja: Trees uprooted, houses damaged in Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam, heavy rains lashed in several areas

Electricity supply was disconnected here and in several other coastal regions in view of the cyclone's landfall

Breaking News: Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district on Friday woke up to the sight of uprooted trees and damaged houses due to the overnight rainfall and strong winds caused due to cyclone Gaja.

The cyclonic storm crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast between Nagapattinam and Vedaranniyam on Thursday evening and unleashed mayhem in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts as well.

In the wake of the situation, a red alert was issued for the administration in parts of Tamil Nadu to keep the government authorities ready to mobilise resources to meet any eventuality.

Cyclone Gaja Updates

The government undertook several preventive measures, which included deploying National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force (TNDRF), evacuating around 20,000 people living along the coastal line and moving them to relief camps. The Indian Navy has also been put on alert for relief efforts.

Apart from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh was also impacted by the cyclonic storm which is likely to bring heavy downpour and strong winds to several parts of the region for the next couple of days.

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Cyclone Ockhi: 19 dead, 690 people rescued, Navy continues rescue ops

At least 690 people were rescued, while 96 were still missing

 

Business News Today : The Tamil Nadu revenue control room on Sunday stated that the total number of deaths caused due to cyclone Ockhi has reached 19.

The state department also said that at least 690 people were rescued, while 96 were still missing.

It further stated that 63 people were hospitalized, while 74 houses were fully damaged and 1,122 houses were partially damaged.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy continued the search and rescue operations over Southeast Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep and Minicoy (L&M) Islands in the aftermath of cyclonic storm Ockhi.

Ten naval ships, including capital ships like Chennai and Kolkata, were deployed over Southeast Arabian Sea and L&M islands.

In addition, eight aircrafts including long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I were deployed throughout the day.

Amid a political slugfest over Cyclone Ockhi, Union Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan said the IMD issued its first alert to Kerala about heavy rain on November 28 and a warning about the cylcone a day later.

In a statement, Vardhan said on the afternoon of November 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued the first bulletin of the cyclone warning and it was conveyed to all district officials in Kerala, the state disaster management authority and the chief secretary.

“In the first bulletin, the information was clearly provided on the possibility of further intensification of the system into a cyclonic storm and associated adverse weather.

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