Indus Valley Times

CHENNAI, DEC 1 : The cyclonic storm ‘Fengal’, which made landfall on Saturday night, delivered historic rains over Villupuram and Puducherry, where it made landfall post Saturday midnight.

Automatic weather stations in Mailam (Villupuram) and Puducherry have recorded 504 mm and 490 mm of rainfall respectively till 7.15 am on Sunday. This is higher than the 494 mm rainfall Chennai had received in 2015, which lead to a delgue that crippled the city.

The threat of heavy rains continues to loom over Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai districts and Puducherry on Sunday.

As per the latest update received from the met office, the storm over north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry remained stationary for past six hours and lay centered over the same region close to Puducherry about 30 km north of Cuddalore, 40 km east of Villupuram and 120 km south-southwest of Chennai.

“It is likely to move westwards slowly and weaken gradually into a deep depression over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during the next 6 hours. The system is being continuously monitored,” S Balachandran, director, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said.

‘Fengal’ made landfall between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram close to Puducherry on Saturday night, bringing very heavy rain to districts along the north Tamil Nadu coast, including Chennai.

Chennai received over 18cm of rainfall in 24 hours from Friday evening to 5.30 pm on Saturday.

The RMC said the spiral bands associated with the cyclone had touched land at 6.30 pm and would cross the coast over the next 3 to 4 hours, with a wind speed of 70-80kmph gusting up to 90kmph. The storm was continuously monitored by the doppler weather radar at Chennai.

The streets of Puducherry remain inundated as Cyclone Fengal brings massive rainfall to the Union Territory, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024.

Heavy rains cause severe waterlogging, residents struggle with inadequate relief in northern Chennai

Balachandran told reporters that it was a very dynamic cyclonic storm constantly changing moving speeds. “As per the latest ocean satellite data, the landfall process might take several hours for the eye of the storm to completely move inland,” he said.

Officials said all the important lake catchment areas in and around Chennai received good rains boosting the level of water in reservoirs. The rains were not threatening as they occurred in intermittent spells. The rainfall ranged from 10cm to 13cm in most of the weather stations.

In Chennai, the highest rainfall of 13.2cm was recorded by the automatic weather station at Jaya Engineering College, followed by Meenambakkam with 11.4cm, and Nungambakkam with 10.4cm. Puducherry, where the landfall took place, recorded 10.4cm, while the Mailam station in Villupuram recorded 13.6cm. This data is from the 8.30 am to 5.30 pm window on Saturday and the weather by and large cleared up thereafter.

On Sunday, rainfall is expected over Villupuram, Kallakuruchi and Cuddalore districts and Puducherry, where a red alert has been issued. Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri, Salem, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts and Karaikal region will also experience some showers, the Met said.

Weathermen said squally wind of 55kmph to 65kmph speed, gusting to 75kmph, would persist over north Tamil Nadu coast and wind with speed of 35kmph to 45kmph, gusting to 55 kmph, will prevail over south Tamil Nadu coast, adjoining Comorin area and the Gulf of Mannar. Windy conditions would continue to prevail till December 3, and consequently, fishermen have been advised not to venture out into the sea during this period.

-PTI