After Cyclone Vardah hit Chennai on Monday, the whole city was destructed including neighboring districts Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram.
Officials in National Disaster Response force said that "the death toll rose to 10 in Tamil Nadu i.e 4 in Chennai, 2 in Kancheepuram, 2 in Tiruvallur,1 in Villupuram and1 in Nagapattinam."
This brought back the memories of Cyclone which hit Chennai in December 2015.
The cyclone effect was also seen from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu. At a distance of 174 km, thousand of trees got uprooted in the area.
"One died in Kancheepuram and another in Nagapattinam", officials said.
All the government and private schools, colleges, and other educational institutions in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur will be closed today.
The officials also feared that the death toll might increase. Around 10,000 people living in low-lying areas were shifted to safer places by the authorities.
The Chennai domestic and international airport was shut down from 11 am on Monday evening. The runway was also not opened for any flight to land. The cyclone also led to suburban trains getting canceled due to gusty winds. Even buses also went off the roads.
TANGEDCO, the power distribution company disconnected power supply in Chennai, Tiruvallur, and Kancheepuram districts as the part of the precautionary measure.
Chief Minister O Pannerselvam said late on Monday night that "restoration of electricity would begin midnight and complete restoration of power supply to all three districts would take one to two days. He also announced exgratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those who died due to the cyclone."
National Highways which connected Chennai with Bangalore, Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai also suffered severe damage. All the trees got uprooted trees and signboards were destroyed because of the heavy force of the wind.
“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). The Cyclone Vardah hit the Chennai Coast at 2.30 pm and made its landfall near the Harbour at 6.30 pm. The maximum speed of winds was 150 kmph at one point,” a senior MeT department official said.
The district which was mostly affected was Tiruvallur, due to which army had to rush to Pulicat and Puzhal for relief operations.
Along with army men, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel did the rescue operations. Even police and civic workers also helped the army in removing hundreds of uprooted trees which were lying on the roads.
Cyclonic Storm Vardah Hits Chennai Coast, 2 Killed
BY M. DIVYA SRI
