4 Dead As Rain Batters Tamil Nadu, Cyclone Heads For Lakshadweep

Chennai: Four people were killed as heavy rain hammered coastal Tamil Nadu today after a depression in the Bay of Bengal turned into a cyclonic storm called Cyclone Ockhi about 60 km from the southern tip of the state. 

With the cyclone headed north-west towards Lakshadweep, it is unlikely to make a landfall in Tamil Nadu, the weather office said. Schools in seven districts of the state including Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Virudhunagar were closed. 

In Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi districts, strong winds uprooted trees, snapped power lines and damaged settlements close to the sea. Heavy showers are likely to continue for the next 24 hours.

A search is on 13 missing fishermen who had gone to the sea. Over 800 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas in the district. Several areas are without electricity.

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF - with about 60 personnel - have been sent to Kanyakumari. Another team of 47 will be on standby in Kochi in Kerala to help out in Lakshadweep if needed.

Very heavy rain and thunderstorms are predicted in south Tamil Nadu, south Kerala, Lakshadweep and some places of Andaman and Nicobar islands over the next 24 hours.

Stormy winds can touch 65-75 kmph in south Tamil Nadu and 50-60 kmph in the northern part of the state, the Indian Meteorological Department or IMD said. Winds between 55 to 75 kmph are likely over south Kerala and Lakshadweep islands.

Chennai received up to 6 cm of rain between 8:30 last night and 8:30 this morning but the sky cleared up by the afternoon.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea around south Tamil Nadu, south Kerala coasts and Lakshadweep Islands. Sea conditions are expected to be very rough in the area, the weather office said.

The storm, named by Bangladesh after the Bengali word for "eye", could also intensify into a "severe" cyclone by tomorrow before reaching Lakshadweep on Saturday, the weather office said.

Heavy rains in Tamil Nadu earlier this month had sparked chaos, reviving fears of a repeat of the 2015 floods that killed more than 400 people, displaced lakhs and damaged property worth thousands of crores.

At least 12 people were killed and thousands of people took shelter in relief camps following heavy rainfall and storm in the first week of November.