Heavy rains batter Chennai as Cyclone Michaung approaches coast

Heavy downpour battered Chennai after a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal intensified into Cyclone Michaung on Monday, bringing torrential rains to coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, reported The Indian Express.

The storm was about 110 kms away from Chennai around 5.30 am.

The India Meteorological Department’s regional centre in Chennai has instructed people to stay indoors as the weather system will intensify into a “severe cyclonic storm” later on Monday. It will pass by 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.

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