Cyclone Thane wreaks havoc in Puducherry, TN; 40 dead

Chennai, Dec 31: With Cyclone Thane continuing to wreak havoc in the coastal Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry, the death toll in nature’s fury has now risen to 40. The heavy rains and the strong winds caused massive destruction to property, especially in Cuddalore district in TN and Puducherry.

With the impact of cyclone Thane felt in the Andhra Pradesh coastline as well, the damage was not extensive. Trees were uprooted and roads and crops damaged in the winds in areas near East Godavari and Chittoor district.

The cyclone Thane crossed the coast between Cuddalore and Puducherry carrying along with it torrential rains and gusts of wind of up to 140 kmph. Electricity supply was cut and the roads leading to certain areas in Tamil Nadu was marooned.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa ordered a relief of Rs 150 crore and directed four ministers to visit the cyclone-hit districts.

The Ministers ordered to look into the relief efforts were BV Ramanaa, CV Shanmugam, KA Jayapal, TKM Chinnaya and MC Sampathto. The Ministers will look into relief activities in Tiruvallur, Villupuram, Nagapattinam, Kanchipuram and Cuddalore respectively.

The damage has extended to crops with as much as 25,000 acres of paddy crops perished in the cyclonic storm in the Cauvery delta region. Thousands of people are making a beeline to the relief camps that are in operation in Cuddalore.

Mobile phone signals, traffic signals and electric poles were uprooted in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. In Chennai, food packets are being distributed at the relief centres. Police are restricting people from venturing near the Marina Beach as sea waters entered inland, around 500 metres from the shoreline.

Train services were affected with the Southern Railways partially cancelling and rescheduling most of the trains between Chennai and southern districts.

OneIndia News