As Cyclone Mandous approaches, the IMD has declared red alert for several districts of Tamil Nadu. Schools and colleges in around 27 districts will remain closed. The severe cyclonic storm weakened into a cyclonic storm, IMD said in its latest bulletin on Friday. The cyclone is expected to make landfall around Mahabalipuram Friday midnight.
“To cross north TN, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Sriharikota around Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) during midnight of Dec 9 to early hours of Dec 10,” IMD tweeted.
Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh have been on high alert over the past few days, with preparations in place. In a notice issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places; extremely heavy rainfall at one or two places is likely to occur over the districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Villupuram, Indian Express reported. The Chennai corporation has requested people not to visit the beaches.
The Puducherry government has also declared a two-day holiday for schools in the wake of the weather prediction. In Andhra Pradesh, six districts are on high alert ahead of the storm making fall Friday midnight. According to reports, Mandous is likely to cause damages in districts of Chittoor, Tirupati, Prakasam, Kadapa, Nellore, and Annamayya.
Due to the cyclone effect, Bengaluru will also receive rainfall till December 12, IMD alerted. There will be cloudy atmosphere and drizzle throughout in Bengaluru, Times of India reported. Karnataka coastal regions will also receive heavy rainfall on December 11 and 12.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed in the states. Twelve teams— comprising nearly 400 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force and the State force—have been deployed in 10 districts of Tamil Nadu. Five NDRF teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh, along with four state teams.
Cyclone Mandous was named by the UAE as per naming protocol and it means 'treasure box' in Arabic.
