Cyclone Fengal To Make Landfall Near Puducherry Today With Wind Speed Upto 90 kmph

New Delhi: Cyclonic storm ‘Fengal’ is likely to make a landfall today afternoon, close to Puducherry, with wind speed upto 90 kmph, according to the India Meteorological Department. Several areas in north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are expected to witness heavy to extremely heavy rainfall under the cyclone’s influence.

With Fengal (pronounced as Feinjal) set to cross coast, the Tamil Nadu government appealed to people to stay indoors and declared November 30 a holiday for educational institutions and IT companies were requested to allow employees to work from home. Public transport has been suspended on the East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road here, which is close to the shoreline, on Saturday afternoon.

Here are updates on this big story:

1. The Cyclonic Storm has moved north-northwestwards of Bay of Bengal with a speed of 07 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 0230 hours IST of today, the 30th November 2024 over the same region near latitude 11.9°N and longitude 81.5°E, about 370 km north of Trincomalee, 210 km northeast of Nagappattinam, 180 km east of Puducherry and 190 km southeast of Chennai.
2. It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram close to Puducherry as a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph during afternoon.
3. The Tamil Nadu government has urged the general public to "fully cooperate" and to avoid visiting beaches, amusement parks and attending recreational events in view of the cyclonic storm. "The general public are requested to cooperate fully with the disaster prevention measures taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu," it said in press statement.
4. Also, construction companies have been asked to take precautionary measures to ensure that equipment, machinery does not fall down. Similarly, those who had erected advertisement hoardings must ensure that these were swept away.
5. Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran held a meet at the state emergency operations centre here with senior officials to review preparatory and relief measures.
6. At least 471 people belonging to 164 families have been accommodated in six relief centres in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.
7. On December 1, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in interior Tamil Nadu, and on December 2 and 3, heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in the state.
8. The Cyclone influence is prediced as far as Jharkhand. According to Ranchi Meteorological Centre, the state is likely to experience fog and partial clouds in the next two days.