Cyclone Fengal is stationary near Puducherry but might weaken in hours: IMD

Cyclone Fengal, which made landfall near Puducherry on Saturday, might weaken into a deep depression on Sunday, but still remains stationary near Puducherry, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The effect of the cyclone was such that it dumped a massive 50o mm of rainfall in 21 hours in Villupuram.

As per the latest alert by the IMD, Cyclone Fengal has been stationary over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the past six hours. It is close to Puducherry, about 30 km north of Cuddalore, 40 km east of Villupuram and 120 km south-southwest of Chennai.

"It is likely to move westwards slowly and weaken gradually into a deep depression over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during the next six hours," the alert read.

According to Chennai Regional Meteorological Centre director S Balachandran, the continuous rainfall in the region is due to the cyclone remaining stationary for hours near Puducherry.

Cyclone Fengal started making landfall near Puducherry around 5.30 pm on Saturday and completed the process between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm

While six locations recorded heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours, three places received extremely heavy rainfall. Villupuram recorded a whopping 498 mm rainfall from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. Puducherry came close behind with 469.55 mm rainfall in the same period.  

However, the situation was way better in Cuddalore (179 mm), Tiruvannamalai (176.5 mm), Tiruvallur (136.5 mm) and Kancheepuram (120.5mm) .

Battered Puducherry

The storm battered the Union Territory forcing authorities to seek the help of the Army for rescue operations. As many as 40 soldiers rushed from Chennai to help the local administration clear roads and traffic after trees were uprooted. Many areas continue to witness power outages.

However, the Meteorological Department has instructed to lower the storm warning cages installed at 9 ports namely Chennai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Ennore, Kattupally, Puducherry, Karaikal, Pamban and Thoothukudi as Cyclone Benjal crossed the coast.

Chennai airport opens

Operations at the Chennai airport resumed past midnight but many flights suffered cancellations and delays, officials said. The operations were suspended on Saturday in view of the cyclone.

As many as 24 domestic services were cancelled and 26 international flights, both arriving and departing were delayed, officials said.