Cyclone Gaja crosses Tamil Nadu coast; heavy rains lash Puducherry, 76,000 people evacuated

Cyclone Gaja hit Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu early on Friday, November 16, preceded by heavy rains and strong winds that uprooted trees and damaged houses.

As the cyclone made landfall at around 1.40 am, with its eye reaching the coastal belt between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam, the intensity of the winds decreased for a brief period before rising again. According to the Chennai met department, the eye would fully cross from sea to land in around an hour. \

The cyclone Gaja crossed the coast with a wind speed of about 110kmphA gusting up to 120 kmph.

The Tamil Nadu government said the fallen trees are being removed at the earliest.

According to IMD, scattered heavy rains is likely to occur over south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala. Isolated rain is likely to occur over north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, north Kerala and and interiors of south Karnataka.

According to Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority, as many as 76,290 people were evacuated from low lying areas and sheltered at over 300 relief centres in six districts including Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram and Tiruvarur. A holiday has been declared for educational institutions in Nagapattinam.

Extremely heavy rain measuring about 20 cm is expected in Cuddalore, Nagappattinam, Karaikal, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram districts, the weather office said.

The weather department earlier recommended complete suspension of fishing operations along the coasts of north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining Andhra Pradesh. The government has also announced helpline numbers 1070 (state-level) and 1077 (districts) for those who may need assistance.