The cyclonic storm, centered in Bay of Bengal 200 km southeast of Chennai, is likely to cross north Tamil Nadu coast between Nagapattinam and Chennai, close to Pondicherry by tomorrow morning.
Weather officials have categorized the cyclonic storm ‘Thane’ as very severe and warned of winds blowing at a speed of 65 km in areas of north Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. “However, the winds may pick up a speed of 120 km when the storm crosses the coast,” the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) warned.
The weather officials have also warned of likely occurrence of tidal waves of more than 1 meter height resulting in the sea water inundating low lying areas of Chennai and Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Villupuram districts.
Officials in both states have asked fishermen to keep off the sea for the next two days as the sea remains rough and turbulent.
Missing fishermen rescued
The five fishermen, who went missing along with their boat from the Muppada coast of East Godavari district three days ago, were rescued at the Madanur coast in Kothapatnam Mandalam of Ongole district this morning.
The five fishermen, who lost their way due to the storm, were drifted away to the Madanur coast and signaled to the local fishermen from their boat at sunrise. The local fishermen went to their boat and safely brought them to the shores. (JUBS)
