Cyclone Nivar: Wednesday public holiday in Tamil Nadu

Local Indian authorities banned public gatherings and closed shops as more than 1,000 rescue personnel mobilised against a powerful cyclone barrelling toward the southeastern coast, bringing heavy rains and strong winds, according to AFP.

Cyclone Nivar is set to cross the coasts of Tamil Nadu state and the small territory of Puducherry as a “very severe cyclonic storm” late Wednesday, the Indian Meteorological Department said in the AFP report.

The cyclone’s centre is expected to pass some 175 km northeast of Sri Lanka’s northernmost Kankesanthurai coastal town early Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami declared Wednesday a public holiday and said it could be extended.

Parts of Andhra Pradesh, a coastal state north of Tamil Nadu, are also forecast to be slammed by the cyclone. A “very severe cyclonic storm” is the fifth-strongest category on the IMD’s scale of seven storm types.

“This will slowly intensify, maybe tonight or tomorrow, and turn into a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of around 120 km per hour and gusting up to 145 km per hour,” IMD’s director-general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, according to AFP.

Rainfall is also expected to inundate the region, with some areas bracing for very heavy downpours, he added.

More than 1,000 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed to assist local efforts on possible evacuations of residents from vulnerable coastal areas.

The lieutenant governor of Puducherry, Kiran Bedi, said public gatherings would be banned from late Tuesday until early Thursday.

Shops in Puducherry, except those for essential services like pharmacies and petrol stations, were to be shut until the cyclone passes.

In parts of Mahabalipuram, about 60 km from Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai, local fishermen dragged their boats to safety along the coast.