Cyclone Fengal is expected to make landfall this evening in Tamil Nadu, and multiple flights to and from Chennai were affected on November 29 due to inclement weather in the region.
Multiple airlines issued travel advisories and updates on their flight plans due to the continuing heavy rains in Chennai.
“Flights to and from Chennai are getting affected due to inclement weather and heavy rains,” read an X post by Air India.
IndiGo issued a travel advisory and said that their flights in multiple cities, including Chennai, Tiruchirappali, Tuticorin, Madurai, and others were impacted.
“The current weather conditions continue to impact flights to/from Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin, Madurai, with Tirupati and Vishakhapatnam now also affected,” read the X post by IndiGo Airlines.
According to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai, intense rain spells are expected to continue in the north coastal districts of Tamil Nadu on Saturday due to the cyclone’s impact.
Isolated heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain is expected at one or two places over Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Villuppuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore districts and Puducherry today.
“Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam districts and Karaikal area. Heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Namakkal, Tiruchirappalli, Pudukkottai and Karur districts,” Tamil Nadu IMD said in a release.
Cyclone Fengal over Southwest Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards earlier and is expected to cross north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts later in the day, IMD said.
“It is likely to move nearly westwards 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 evening of November 30,” the weather department added.
Fengal is being continuously monitored by the IMD from Doppler weather radars at Chennai (S Band), Sriharikota, and Chennai (X band) in addition to the satellite observations.
According to a press release by the Southern Railway Chennai Division PRO, EMU train services in the Suburban sections of the Chennai division would be operated at reduced frequency intervals. Further, the press release mentioned that all precautionary measures had been taken to ensure the safety of the passengers during the cyclone.
Alert at Puducherry coast, security stepped up across beaches
A team led by Puducherry SSP Kalaivanan visited the beaches and the coastal roads in the region and inspected them as Cyclone Fengal is expected to cross the coast this evening.
The authorities have advised the public not to visit beaches in Puducherry as well as in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai, including Marina Beach, Pattinapakkam and Edward Elliot Beach. The tourist spots in Puducherry have been closed as a precautionary measure owing to the impending cyclone Fengal.
SSP Kalaivanan, speaking to ANI on Saturday, said that security had been heightened on the coastal roads and nearby areas in Puducherry. The SSP said that 300 personnel have been deployed on the coastal roads and beaches.
“For the last four days, we have been deploying police personnel along the beaches and apart from that we are also informing the fishermen and people living in the low-lying areas to be careful. Fishermen are not venturing into the sea. Since last night, we have closed all beaches. We have deployed nearly 300 personnel across all the beaches of Puducherry and we are coordinating with the NDRF also,” the SSP said.
The coastal areas of Puducherry witnessed rough sea and gusty winds on November 30 morning due to the impact of the cyclone. Puducherry received moderate rain, as per IMD, in the morning today but the rough sea was seen more than usual.
SSP Kalaivanan said that the government and the police are prepared to face Cyclone Fenchal, and that no public has been allowed to go to the coastal area.
“The Cyclonic Storm “FENGAL” [pronounced as FEINJAL] over Southwest Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 12 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 0530 hours IST of today, the 30th November 2024 over the same region near latitude 12.2°N and longitude 81.2°E, about 150 km east of Puducherry, 140 km southeast of Chennai, 210 km northeast of Nagapattinam and 400 km north of Trincomalee,” RMC said.
“It is likely to move nearly westwards 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 evening of November 30,” the weather department added.
Earlier Director of Regional Meteorological Centre of Chennai, S Balachandran said that the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu will be impacted more.
“Mostly coastal districts, the crossing point is between Karaikal to Mahabalipuram near Puducherry, so, all along the coastal districts, the impact will be more. There will be wind and rainfall. Today the wind speed was 50-60 kmph and gusting to 70 kmph. At one to two, there will be extremely heavy rainfall, while at many places it will be scattered heavy to very heavy rainfall,” Balachandran said.
Director of Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre in Andhra Pradesh, Srinuvas, said that they have issued a warning of ‘extremely heavy rainfall’ for the districts of Nellore, Tirupati and Chittoor for the next 24 hours.
“It is likely to move in the northwest direction and intensify into a cyclonic storm. In the next six hours, it is likely to move in the northwest direction towards and cross North Tamil Nadu and the Puducherry coast…Cyclone alert has been issued for the adjoining districts of Tamil Nadu…We have given an extremely heavy rainfall warning for the districts of Nellore, Tirupati and Chittoor for the next 24 hours,” Srinuvas said.
