Cyclone Ditwah approaches Indian coast; Sri Lanka reports 150+ deaths, alerts sounded
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): After causing massive devastation in Sri Lanka, Cyclone Ditwah is now rapidly moving towards India. It is estimated that the storm could hit the coastal areas of North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and South Andhra Pradesh any time today. The Meteorological Department has issued a warning and 14 NDRF teams have been deployed as a precaution. Cyclone Ditwah has so far killed approximately 150 people in Sri Lanka.
Cyclone Ditwah is rapidly moving towards India and has already claimed the lives of over 150 people in Sri Lanka: In the last 6 hours, this cyclone moved northwards at a speed of about 5 kilometres per hour over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining northern Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coasts. At 11:30 pm on Saturday, the storm was located near 10.7°N latitude and 80.6°E longitude. At that time, it was centered about 90 kilometers east-northeast of Vedaranyam, 90 kilometers east-southeast of Karaikal, 130 kilometers north-northeast of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, 160 kilometers south-southeast of Puducherry and 260 kilometers south of Chennai.
According to the Meteorological Department, Cyclone Ditwah is likely to move northwards parallel to the coasts of northern Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next 24 hours. At 2:30 am today, it was centered over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coasts, about 160 km south-southeast of Puducherry and about 250 km south of Chennai. It is forecast that by this morning and evening, the storm will remain at a minimum distance of 50 and 25 km from the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry respectively.
The Regional Meteorological Centre says heavy rains will be confined mainly to northern Tamil Nadu on Sunday, with rainfall and strong winds gradually subsiding from December 1. The storm has brought heavy rains to the southern coastal and delta districts since Friday night, flooding many residential areas and damaging standing crops.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, offering all possible assistance from the state government to help Indian citizens stranded in Sri Lanka. He said that Cyclone Ditwah has caused massive chaos at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport, leaving around 300 Indian passengers, including many Keralites, stranded there for the past three days. They are facing shortage of food, water and essential amenities. Vijayan said that the Kerala government is fully prepared to assist the needy passengers.