Cyclone Michaung: Landfall process starts on Andhra's coast, to last for three hours; NDRF, relief teams on standby

Severe cyclonic storm Michaung has made landfall near Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh and will last for the next three hours, IMD said. The landfall has triggered severe rainfall in Andhra Pradesh. Heavy rains were already reported in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, with Chennai and its surrounding districts.

"The severe cyclonic storm “MICHAUNG” (pronounced as Migjaum) over westcentral Bay of Bengal along and off south Andhra Pradesh coast moved northwards with a speed of 10 kmph during past 06 hours and lay centered at 1130 hours ist of 5th december, 2023 over the same region," IMD said.

It further said coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam are likely to get extremely heavy rainfall on December 5. Isolated heavy rainfall is also expected over north coastal Andhra Pradesh on December 6.

In Andhra, CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed NDRF officials and relief to be on high alert for taking up relief measures. The state government has issued  alerts for eight districts -- Tirupati, Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema and Kakinada.

As many as 29 NDRF teams deployed. Earlier, NDRF officials said the cyclone will move towards after the landfall. “Landfall of cyclone Michaung is expected before 1.30 pm on Tuesday, and then it will curve and move towards land. The worst is expected to be over soon. As many as 29 NDRF teams deployed. Two NDRF teams deployed in Bapatla, and one team in Machlipatnam are evacuating people and moving them to cyclone shelters,” said Mohsen Shahedi, NDRF DIG Ops.

All 5 major dams in Tirupati flow at full capacity due to incessant rainfall as the cyclone made landfall in Andhra Pradesh.

The IMD had issued a red alert in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in view of the extreme rainfall caused by the expected landfall of Cyclone Michaung.

At least eight people were killed in Chennai in rain-related incidents due to Cyclone Michaung. Heavy rain in the state has turned roads into rivers, and vehicles were swept away on Monday, forcing authorities to shut down educational institutions.

In view of the heavy rainfall and extreme weather conditions, the Tamil Nadu government has declared a school holiday on Wednesday in four districts - Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thieuvallur and Chengalpet.

Besides, phone manufactureres Foxconn and Pegatron, and automobile company Hyundai have suspended their manufacturing operations in Tamil Nadu due to cyclonic conditions.

Earlier, IMD had said that harsh weather conditions in the state and nearby cities will prevail till Thursday.

The cyclone took a hit on transportation services in Tamil Nadu, with several trains and flights cancelled. The Chennai airport runway was flooded as no flights. The operations resumed only on Tuesday. The Chennai Airport announced that their airfield is now open for arrivals and departures, resuming their flights as the rainfall in the city slows down.

The first flight to land at Chennai was Vistara 821 flight from Mumbai, which landed at 11:19 am.