Five dead in rain-related incidents in Chennai as Cyclone Michaung approaches coast

Five persons died in Chennai on Monday as heavy rains triggered by the approaching Cyclone Michaung battered the city, reported ANI.

The India Meteorological Department’s regional centre in Chennai has told residents to stay indoors as a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal intensified into a “severe cyclonic storm” on Monday evening. It will cross the South Andhra Pradesh coast on December 5 and make landfall between Nellore and Machilipatnam with wind speeds touching 100 kms per hour.

At least 10 coastal districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will bear the brunt of the cyclone for the next three days, The Indian Express reported.

“Its location is west-central adjoining South-West Bay of Bengal and is at a distance of 90 km East North-East of Chennai,” Regional Director Bhubaneswar Meteorological Office Habibur Rahman Biswas told PTI. “The movement of the storm will be northwards.”

pic.twitter.com/GGeKTwlq9C— Tamilnadu Weather-IMD (@ChennaiRmc) December 4, 2023

The rains have left several housing localities and low-lying areas in Chennai flooded.

All schools in Andhra Pradesh have been closed for Monday while Tamil Nadu has declared a public holiday in Chennai and its adjoining districts Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, The Indian Express reported.

The city’s airfield will also remain closed on Tuesday, the Chennai Airfield Authority said in a tweet.

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