Cyclone Burevi likely to cross TN coast today; Red alert issued in 4 districts of Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 03: The Met department on Wednesday issued red alert for December 3 in four districts of Kerala, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha and orange alert for Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki districts.

The cyclone over Sri Lanka moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 12 kmph during past six hours and lay centred about 60 km northwest of Trincomalee, 180 km east-southeast of Pamban, said the IMD early hours of Thursday. On Thursday noon, Burevi will be centred close to Pamban.

It is likely to weaken by the time it crosses the Gulf of Mannar and turns back to hit Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu, but will still be powerful.

Over 2,000 relief camps have been established in Kerala to tackle the relief and rescue operation in light of cyclone Burevi. The state disaster management agency has banned fishermen from venturing out in the open sea.

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed in Thiruvananthapuram's Valyathura. A total of eight NDRF teams have been deployed in the state.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Wednesday morning to offer central government support. "We have discussed matters related to the cyclone with Prime Minister Modi. We have explained steps taken by the state government," the Chief Minister said.

Also, Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks to Tamil Nadu CM and Kerala CM and said, "Modi government is committed for all possible support to help people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Several teams of NDRF are already deployed in both the States."