Cyclone Ditwah continues to bring more rains to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry

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Rains triggered by Cyclone Ditwah continued in several parts of Tamil Nadu as it is expected to move parallel to the coastline of northern parts of the state and neighbouring Puducherry in the next 24 hours, the weather office said on Sunday.

With heavy rainfall pounding Cauvery delta districts in the state, Ramanathapuram and Nagapattinam districts bore the brunt.

Normal life continued to be affected in the coastal towns of Rameswaram and Nagapattinam as heavy rainfall inundated several low lying areas.

As per the latest bulletin by the Regional Meteorological Department issued on Sunday, the cyclone moved nearly northwards with a speed of 5 kmph and it is located about 80 km east of Karaikal, 100 km northeast of Vedaraniyam, 160 km southeast of Puducherry and 250 km south of Chennai.

"It is very likely to move nearly northwards parallel to North Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts during the next 24 hours. While moving northwards the cyclonic storm will be centered over southwest Bay of Bengal within a minimum distance of 50 km and 25 km from the Tamil-Nadu-Puducherry coastline by November 30," the bulletin said.

Due to the impact of cyclone, heavy to very heavy rain at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall are likely to occur over Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Ranipet districts and Puducherry and Karaikal over the next 24 hours.

Strong surface winds with speed reaching 60-70 km ph gusting to 80 km ph is likely to prevail over the North Coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Sea condition is likely to be high and it is very likely to improve gradually becoming very rough to rough by morning of December 1 and gradually improve thereafter, the bulletin said.

Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea, it said.

The state government has kept 28 disaster response teams, including SDRF and NDRF on standby and 10 more teams are expected to join from other states, State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister K K S S R Ramachandran had said.

"There have been no fatalities so far, but 16 livestock have died, and 24 huts have been damaged. "There has been no major impact due to the rain so far. However, the state government is continuously monitoring the situation and has readied teams for rescue and relief operations," he said on Saturday.

Private weather bloggers said the cyclone would weaken into a deep depression while Mayiladuthurai recorded the heavy rainfall of 140-220 mm in the last 24 hours.

"The cyclone will weaken further into a deep depression and then to a depression inching northward. It is expected that the system to stay in the open water for one more day, dissipating in the Chennai coast without making the landfall process," another private blogger said.

The name 'Ditwah' suggested by Yemen, refers to a lagoon and likely comes from Detwah Lagoon, a large saline lagoon on Socotra's northwest coast.