Cyclone Vardah: 10 dead, 266 relief centres opened

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, Dec. 13: Cyclone Vardah, which has turned into a severe cyclonic storm, hit Tamil Nadu cost today afternoon with winds of 90 kmph and has claimed four lives in the state.

 

It struck the north of state capital Chennai with a current speed of 120 kmph.

Heavy rainfall and strong winds lashed Tamil Nadu with its capital Chennai having come to a standstill.

All operations have been suspended at the Chennai airport till 9 pm, railway services are completely suspended and very limited buses are playing on the roads.

S Balachandran, Director at the Regional Meteorological Centre, said "The western part of the cyclone Vardah has crossed the coast around 10 km north of Chennai. Now the central part is crossing. Then the eastern part of the cyclone will cross. Since the central part is crossing there is calm and the rains have stopped."

"The landfall will continue till 8-9 pm," he said.

The Army, Navy and Air Force are on stand-by and over 16,000 people have been evacuated untill now.

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CYCLONE VARDAH IN TAMIL NADU

The Tamil Nadu government has released the following details about Cyclone Vardah.

    Number of relief centres opened: 266
    Number of relief centres in operation: 95
    Number of people evacuated and sheltered in relief centres so far: 8008
    Number of food packets supplied: 10754
    Number of NDRF teams deployed: 6 teams (3 in Tiruvallur, 2 in Kancheepuram and 1 in Chennai)
    Number of SDRF teams deployed: 4 teams( 2 in Tiruvallur and 2 in Chennai.)

The government also released data on the damages that cyclone Vardah has caused so far.

    Human loss: 10
    Cattle loss: 0
    Hut damages: 24 (2 in Villupuram, 21 in Tiruvallur and 1 in Kancheepuram)
    Number of trees fallen and removed: 260 fallen, 190 removed
    Number of electricity poles fallen and removed: 37 fallen
    Number of roads blocked and blockages cleared: 224 blocked, 89 cleared