Cyclone damages houses, fells trees in Dakshina Kannada dist

The effects of cyclone Kyarr passing along the coast of Karnataka were felt in Dakshina Kannada district with the entire region experiencing heavy rains throughout Thursday night and intermittent rains on Friday.

Several trees were uprooted in gusty winds that lashed the area, damaging houses in many places.

The cyclone now lay centered about 190 km west of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, sources in the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The IMD and the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) have warned that the sea conditions are likely to be rough along the Karnataka coast during the next 24 hours.

A red alert has been sounded forDakshina, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts with the prediction that the region is likely to receive very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall (above 200 mm) in the next 24 hours.

Dakshina Kannada district received 32.4 mm rainfall on Friday, with Mangaluru, Bantwal and Belthangady receiving excess rains compared to last year during the same period.

The level of Nethravati river is also rising and stood at 25 metres, below the danger-level of 29.5 metres, the sources said.

The IMD has also predicted huge waves between three metres to 3.3 metres for the next 24 to 36 hours along the coast from Mangaluru, Malpe and Karwar.

Fishermen were advised not to venture into the rough sea for the next two days.