After midnight on Thursday, Cyclone “Fengal,” which is now a cyclonic storm, is predicted to bring heavy to moderate rains to Tamil Nadu’s coastal regions over the course of the next two to three days.
S Balachandran, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, predicted that the deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal will move almost north-northwestward, avoiding the coast of Sri Lanka, and build into a cyclonic storm.
It will traverse the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram by the morning of November 30.
Though it will weaken when it crosses the coast between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram, the deep depression, which is located roughly 300 km southeast of Nagapattinam, 400 km southeast of Puducherry, and 480 km southeast of Chennai, may develop into a cyclonic storm tonight or early tomorrow morning.
“To cross the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram around the morning of November 30, as a deep depression with a wind speed of 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph,” a bulletin from the weather office said.
With the potential for the weather system to cross the beaches close to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry prepared for extremely severe rain.
According to Balachandran, there is a chance that the deep depression would somewhat intensify into a cyclonic storm over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, with wind gusts of 65 to 75 kmph and up to 85 kmph. According to him, the weaker system would prevent clouds from forming and decreased the likelihood of cyclones.
“There are many factors responsible for the cyclone to become weak. The wind speed is higher in the shear region but lower near the core. There is a marginal chance for the deep depression to develop into a cyclone,” he said while briefing reporters about the impending cyclone.
For land areas, strong winds reaching a speed of 50-60 kmph and gusting to 70 kmph are likely to prevail over the coastal areas north of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, while squally winds with a speed 55 kmph to 65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph is likely to prevail over TN coast, adjoining Comorin area and Gulf of Mannar.
In the meantime, the state administration requested that the Indian Coast Guard rescue six fishermen from a village in the Cuddalore district. The fishermen had gone out to sea in boats, and because of the bad weather, their boats sank.
With an emphasis on risk assessment and safety precautions, the National Disaster Response Force team examined the low-lying and susceptible locations of T R Patinam, Karaikal, according to the NDRF.
Due to the heavy rainfall warning, schools in at least 11 districts of Tamil Nadu—including Chennai, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, and Nagapattinam—are probably going to stay closed today, November 29.
Only schools would be closed in Chennai and Chengalpattu, but other educational institutions in Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Thiruvallur, Villupuram, and Puducherry, as well as Karaikal, will reportedly also be closed.
According to Education Minister A Namassivayam, all government and government-aided schools, private schools, and institutions in Puducherry and Karaikal would be closed on November 29 and 30.
