Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday said the Tamil Nadu government is ready to lend a helping hand to cyclone-wrecked Sri Lanka, by providing food and medicine, through the Union government. Stalin said he has directed Chief Secretary N Muruganandam to form a committee of officials to work in coordination with the Central government in this regard. Meanwhile, the CM said that steps were taken by the state's Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils to safely bring back home passengers from Tamil Nadu stranded in Sri Lanka, and in the first phase, as many as 177 people, including 4 children and 60 women, were brought back to the state on Sunday morning. Conveying his condolences to the bereaved families in Sri Lanka, the chief minister said that the Tamil Nadu people shared the grief of the people of the island nation.
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
Two transport aircraft of the IAF C-130J and IL-76 delivered nearly 21 tonnes of relief material in Colombo on Saturday as part of India's humanitarian assistance extended to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu, launched to assist the island nation in its hour of crisis in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah. Also, INS Sukanya, carrying more humanitarian aid, has left Visakhapatnam and is expected to reach Sri Lanka soon, officials said. A C-130J transport aircraft carrying approximately 12 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including tents, tarpaulins, blankets, hygiene kits, and ready-to-eat food items, landed in Colombo today morning, a senior official said on Saturday. An IL-76 aircraft carrying 9 tonnes of relief material, 80 NDRF personnel, four canines, and 8 tonnes of NDRF HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) equipment also landed in Colombo on Saturday morning, the official added. Besides, two Chetak helicopters from the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Vikrant are ..
The government issued an appeal for international help and asked Sri Lankans abroad to make cash donations to support nearly half a million affected people
The IMD forecast heavy rainfall across parts of Andhra Pradesh for four days from November 30 to December 3 under the influence of cyclonic storm Ditwah. According to the India Meteorological Department, the cyclonic storm over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining north Sri Lanka moved northwards at a speed of 10 kmph during the past six hours and remained centred over the same region as of 11:30 am. Under its influence, Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) managing director Prakhar Jain said isolated places in Tirupati and Chittoor districts are likely to receive heavy rainfall on Saturday. Heavy rain is also expected in parts of Prakasam, Nellore, Kadapa and Annamayya districts. The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall, and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated locations over South Coastal Andhra Pradesh (SCAP) and Rayalaseema on November 30. "Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning are likely at isolated places over SCAP, Rayalaseema, North ..
Sri Lanka's scheduled budget debate was cancelled for Friday and Saturday, and the Colombo Stock Exchange shortened trading hours on Friday due to the adverse weather
Chennai Airport officials have advised all passengers travelling from the airport to contact their respective airlines, check the status of their flights, and reschedule their journeys as needed
The storm is also expected to cause "significant damage" to standing crops, including horticulture, floriculture and vegetables, particularly those in the ripening stage
Cyclone Ditwah was slowly moving closer towards the Tamil Nadu coast and it was likely to bring heavy rainfall, the weather office said on Friday, as the state government reviewed its preparedness to face the second such weather system in a month. The weather office forecast heavy rains in the southern and Cauvery delta districts of the state, between November 29 and 30. The name, 'Ditwah', referring to a lagoon, was suggested by Yemen. It is likely named after Detwah Lagoon, a large, saline lagoon on the northwest coast of the island of Socotra in Yemen. In a bulletin on Friday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the cyclonic storm 'Ditwah' over the coast of Sri Lanka and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moved slowly northwards with a speed of 3 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 2.30 hrs of today, November 28 over the same region. It is located about 300 km south-southeast of Karaikal, 410 km south-southeast of Puducherry and 510 km south-southeast o
Cyclone Ditwah is expected to reach the southwest Bay of Bengal near north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the nearby south Andhra Pradesh coasts by early morning on November 30
Five flights, three from the Middle East region and one each from Malaysia and India, bound for Sri Lanka were diverted to the international airport here on Friday due to bad weather over Colombo, TIAL said. TIAL said that more flights are likely to be diverted to Thiruvananthapuram in view of a cyclone warning over Colombo. Two were Srilankan Airline flights, one each from Dubai and Doha, one was an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi and one an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur, the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) said. The fifth was an Indigo flight from Mumbai to Colombo, it said. The Etihad Airways aircraft landed here at 3.44 am, the AirAsia flight at 4.37 am and the Srilankan Airlines flights at 7.44 am and 7.55 am, TIAL said. The Indigo flight landed here at 9.49 am, it added. The flights which landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in the morning are still here due to the bad weather conditions in Colombo, a TIAL official said.
Torrential rains, floods and landslides have left 31 people dead in Sri Lanka with nearly 4000 affected in the last 11 days, as the Island nation grapples with one of its worst weather-related crises. Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre said on Thursday that 18 deaths were reported from the central hill districts alone due to landslides. In a terrifying incident, a passenger bus got trapped in rising floodwaters in Kumbukkana. Emergency teams managed to rescue twenty-three passengers successfully, Daily Mirror Online reported. Nearly 10 people have sustained injuries, while 14 persons are reported missing, Adaderana news portal reported. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had called a crisis meeting to assess the deteriorating situation in 17 of the 25 administrative districts. According to the weather bureau, the island's southeast periphery had developed a low-pressure situation, which had developed into a depression and is centred 210 km southeast of Batticaloa. It is very
The IMD says the system will keep moving north-northwest across the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka and is likely to strengthen into a cyclonic storm within the next 12 hours
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to intensify from November 21, an official said on Thursday. Heavy to very heavy rainfall (07-20 cm) is very likely to occur at one or two places in Nicobar Island and heavy rainfall (07-11 cm) is also expected in Andaman Island. "Thunderstorms with gusty wind (40-50 kilometres per hour) and lightning are also very likely to occur at one or two places over Andaman and Nicobar Islands on November 24 and 25," the official said. Squally weather with surface wind speed reaching 35-45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph is very likely over the Andaman Sea. "Sea condition is also likely to be rough. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the Andaman Sea till November 23. We have issued a Local Cautionary Signal-3 at Port Blair Port," the official said. Due to the possibility of surging waves, boat owners, islanders and touris
Super Typhoon Fung-wong battered the Philippines' northeastern coast ahead of landfall on Sunday, leaving at least two people dead and forcing more than a million people to evacuate from areas at risk of flash floods, landslide and tidal surges, officials said. The typhoon could cover two-thirds of the Southeast Asian archipelago with its 1,800-kilometre-wide rain and wind band, forecasters said. It approached from the Pacific while the Philippines was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central provinces on Tuesday before pummelling Vietnam, where at least five were killed. A villager drowned in flash floods in the eastern province of Catanduanes and another died in Catbalogan city in eastern Samar province when she was pinned by debris, officials said. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of emergency due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected calamity from ...
An analysis of deaths in the wake of tropical cyclones in nine countries has found that the highest increase of 92 per cent was seen in deaths due to kidney diseases, followed by 21 per cent in deaths due to physical injuries. A tropical cyclone is an extreme weather event originating in oceans in the tropics, bringing violent winds, torrential rains and in some cases, destructive coastal flooding. Deaths due to diabetes were seen to increase by 15 per cent, and those due to neuropsychiatric disorders and infectious diseases by 12 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, according to findings published in The British Medical Journal. Researchers led by those at Monash University looked at 14.8 million deaths linked to 217 tropical cyclones during 2000-2019 across 1,356 communities in nine countries including Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and Thailand. "Mortality risks from various causes consistently increased after tropical cyclones, with peaks occurring within the first two .
Cyclone Montha batters India's east coast as data shows a sharp drop in cyclone frequency and fatalities, with the Bay of Bengal still accounting for most storms since 2019
Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister G Ravi Kumar on Friday said that nearly 13,000 electric poles, 3,000 km of conductor lines, and 3,000 transformers were damaged in the recent severe cyclonic storm 'Montha'. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had said the state had suffered losses amounting to at least Rs 5,265 crore. Kumar said the Energy Department had mobilised staff two days in advance to ensure a rapid response during the cyclone. "Andhra Pradesh suffered significant damage to its power infrastructure during Cyclone Montha, with thousands of poles and transformers affected across coastal districts," the minister said in a press release. He said the department prioritised public safety and ensured uninterrupted power restoration across affected regions. Nearly 1,500 personnel were deployed on the ground, enabling electricity restoration within 24 hours despite extensive network damage caused by the storm, he said. Kumar added that power supply to feeders linked to agriculture an
Nearly 2,000 people were shifted to shelter homes in Warangal and Hanamakonda districts following heavy rains that lashed different parts of Telangana on October 29 due to the impact of severe cyclonic storm 'Montha', officials said on Thursday. The downpour inundated several localities and led to waterlogging on roads in different areas in the tri-cities of Warangal, Hanamakonda and Kaizpet dirupting normal life. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday directed officials to speed up relief operations in the flood-affected areas in Warangal. He instructed the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to dispatch SDRF teams and the required number of boats there, an official release said. The Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) said that the Disaster Response Force (DRF) personnel shifted people from low-lying areas to shelter homes. "#Floodshelter homes arranged in 9 places in Warangal and 4 places in Hanamkonda to accommodate people in low lying areas.
Cyclone Montha', which has gradually weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area, will bring heavy rain in some districts of West Bengal till Saturday, the IMD said. The weather system, which is situated over south Chhattisgarh, is likely to move northwards towards east Madhya Pradesh and weaken further, the India Meteorological Department said in a bulletin. It is likely to bring heavy to very heavy rain (7-20 cm) at one or two places in the north Bengal districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar and 7-11 cm precipitation in Malda, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur on Friday, it said. Heavy rainfall is also likely in Alipurduar and Coochbehar on Saturday. The IMD warned that landslides may occur in the hilly areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, owing to the downpour. The south Bengal districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad, Paschim Bardhaman and Purulia are also expected to receive heavy rainfall till Friday. Light to moderate rain is likely over man