Cyclonic storm ‘Fengal’ to make landfall near Puducherry

Chennai: Cyclonic storm ‘Fengal’ over Bay of Bengal is likely to make a landfall on November 30 afternoon, close to Puducherry, with wind speed upto 90 kmph, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday.

Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places is expected in north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Earlier in the day, the IMD said the deep depression intensified into cyclonic storm.

With Fengal (pronounced as Feinjal) all set to cross coast, the Tamil Nadu government appealed to people to stay indoors and declared November 30 a holiday for educational institutions and IT companies were requested to allow employees to work from home. Public transport has been suspended on the East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road here, which is close to the shoreline, on Saturday afternoon.

Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran held a meet at the state emergency operations centre here with senior officials to review preparatory and relief measures. An official release said: “Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority urges the general public to avoid visiting beaches, amusement parks and attending recreational events. The general public are requested to cooperate fully with the disaster prevention measures taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu.”

Also, construction companies were asked to take precautionary measures to ensure that equipment, machinery does not fall down. Similarly, those who had erected advertisement hoardings must ensure that these were swept away.

According to an IMD update (8.40 pm on Friday), Fengal was about 240 km east-northeast of Nagappattinam, 230 km east-southeast of Puducherry and 250 km southeast of Chennai.

Further, it said: “It is likely to move west-northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram close to Puducherry as a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph during the afternoon 30th November.”