CHENNAI: Four people were killed in electrocutions in different parts of Chennai as Cyclone Fengal (pronounced Feinjal) brought 9cm to 13cm of rain across different parts of the city since Saturday morning.
In its 7pm bulletin, IMD said the forward sector of spiral bands associated with the cyclone entered the land, and the system might take another three to four hours to further move and cross the coast near Puducherry.
On Sunday, the weather system might continue to bring rainfall after it moves inland, as IMD issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall for Chennai and 13 districts, including the city’s three neighbouring districts. A red alert for extremely heavy spells was issued to Villupuram, Kallakurichi and Cuddalore as they are closer to the landfall location.
Bloggers said the cyclone was caught between high-pressure ridges, and much of the clouds around the storm on the seaside vanished by Saturday evening due to high wind shear.
“Cyclone Fengal is going to be stuck off the Cheyyur-Marakkanam coast till Sunday morning,” said blogger Pradeep John in one of his online posts.
Tamil Nadu’s coastal districts and Chennai on Saturday escaped with long spells of rain and strong winds. There was flooding and tree falls, but not to the extent feared. Public transport was kept to a minimum and since it was the weekend and schools, colleges and most offices were shut, people hardly ventured out.
The centre of the cyclonic storm, which slowed down from 10kmph to 7kmph, changed directions from 90km southeast of Chennai to 90km south of the city after 2.30pm.
Bad weather: 13 flights cancelled
As many as 13 flights to and from Chennai were cancelled on Friday owing to bad weather and operational reasons.
After the formation of Cyclone Fengal was confirmed by IMD, two IndiGo flights, one from Chennai to Mangaluru and another from Chennai to Trichy, were cancelled. Their return flights were also cancelled.
In a travel advisory, IndiGo informed passengers that the prevailing weather conditions impacted flights to and from Chennai, Trichy, Tuticorin, Madurai, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam. It asked passengers to check flight status online before arriving at the airport.
Similarly, five Air India Express flights scheduled to depart from Coimbatore at 7.25am, Bhubaneshwar at 7.45am, Hyderabad at 9.20am, Bengaluru at 9.35am and Pune at 8.45pm were cancelled, citing operational reasons.