Advertisement
Chennai: Severe cyclonic storm, Cyclone Michaung has set off alarm bells in Chennai and adjoining districts, leading to orange alert in Chennai and red alert in Tiruvallur district as it is likely to make landfall between Nellore and Machilipatnam, close to Bapatla, in Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday morning. The severe cyclonic storm continues to intensify over the Bay of Bengal. The weather system brought in heavy bouts of rain in several places across Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu in the past couple of hours.
So far, at least eight people have died in rain-related incidents in Chennai. In Chennai, heavy rainfall due to the influence of Cyclone Michaung, streets flooded, roads inundated and vehicles were swept away on Monday, forcing authorities to declare educational institutions shut. Private offices asked their employees to work from home till the situation improves. The rainfall, coupled with strong winds, brought down trees, walls and electric poles.
Floodwaters entered government hospitals, resulting in the temporary suspension of healthcare services, while there were cases of waterlogging at metro stations. Videos of a mugger crocodile crossing a submerged road also went viral on social media. The continuous downpour resulted in power outages and internet disruptions.
The cyclone took a hit on transportation services, with several trains and flights cancelled. The Chennai airport runway was flooded as no flights were available till 9 am on Tuesday, causing chaos and inconvenience to passengers.
As a precautionary measure, train operations have been significantly altered to avoid the affected areas. Some trains are now departing from alternative stations. In an effort to protect its students, Anna University has postponed the engineering examinations scheduled for Tuesday. The Greater Chennai Police has also taken proactive steps by alerting residents about traffic diversions and road closures due to waterlogging.
In its latest communication via X, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “Severe cyclonic storm Michaung over west-central Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh and adjoining north Tamil Nadu coasts moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 7 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centered at 2:30 am about 20 km north-northeast of Nellore, 170 km north of Chennai, 150 km south of Bapatla and 210 km south-southwest of Machilipatnam. As the system is nearly moving northwards close to coast, some parts of the wall cloud region lies over land.”
The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government has issued an alert for eight districts – Tirupati, Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema and Kakinada. In Puducherry, Section 144 has been imposed in the coastal areas, restricting movement there, until 6 pm. Mr Reddy said that special officers have been tasked for all cyclone-affected districts, besides releasing ₹ 2 crore each for rescue and relief work. People from low-lying areas have been evacuated and over 300 relief camps have been set up to accommodate them.
Chennai airspace will remain closed till 9 pm tomorrow due to the impending cyclone Michaung, which is predicted to make landfall near Andhra Pradesh coast in the afternoon. The news has been widely spread on social media platforms using hashtags like #CycloneMichaung, #MichaungCyclone, #Michaung, and #Vishesh.
Cyclone Michaung will be the first storm to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast since Cyclone Gulab in September 2021. While Cyclone Asani reached the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast in 2022, it did not make landfall. Due to adverse ocean conditions, storms that occur in December often do not attain much intensity. However, forecasts indicate that Michaung will continue to move north-northwest before strengthening further.
