Cyclone Michaung: 2 dead in Chennai amid heavy rain, no flights till 11 pm

Two people were killed and another was injured after a newly constructed wall collapsed in Chennai’s Kanathur following heavy rain and gusty winds.

Flight operations at Chennai airport were affected as runway was flooded, several flights were cancelled and others diverted in view of heavy rain. Flight operations have been suspended till 11 pm on Monday owing to severe weather conditions. Earlier, arrivals at the Chennai airport were suspended between 9.17 am to 11.30 am.

Heavy rain lashed Chennai through the night on Monday as Cyclone Michaung inched closer to the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coasts. Heavy rain led to severe waterlogging and due to the increase of water levels in low-lying areas, a mugger crocodile was spotted on the road.

Heavy rain resulted in waterlogging near several metro stations across Chennai. At St Thomas metro station, water up to 4 feet had accumulated and access to enter the station had been cut off. Passengers were advised to board the metro train at Alandur.

Two people died and one person was injured after a newly constructed wall collapsed in Chennai’s Kanathur due to heavy rain and gusty winds. The people who died were residents of Jharkhand.

The cyclonic storm ‘Michaung’ over the Bay of Bengal is active and likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm by Monday as some parts of Odisha experienced light to moderate rain, the IMD said.

“Thereafter, it would move nearly northwards almost parallel and close to south Andhra Pradesh coast and cross South Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam during the forenoon of December 5 (Tuesday) as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph,” it said.

The Tamil Nadu government declared a public holiday on Monday and Tuesday in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu districts. It urged private companies’ employees to ‘work from home’ in the wake of Michaung. Essential services such as milk supply and healthcare facilities would be operational.

After flight operations were hit by heavy rain, causing inconvenience to passengers, Akasa Air urged travellers to rebook their travel.

“All passengers who are unable to travel to and from Chennai between December 4 to December 10, can rebook their travel for any date on or before December 17 at no additional cost,” Akasa Air wrote on X.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 21 teams in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry and eight additional teams have been kept in reserve in view of Michaung.

This was informed to the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), which met here under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, to review the preparedness of state governments and central ministries and departments for impending cyclone, according to an official statement.

Light to moderate rainfall is likely in most places with isolated heavy rainfall over south coastal and adjoining south interior Odisha during December 4-6 with isolated very heavy rainfall over the same region on December 5.

The IMD issued a yellow warning (be updated) as heavy rainfall (7 to 11 cm) is likely at one or two places in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Ganjam on December 4. Similarly, it said that light to moderate rain and thundershowers may also occur at many places in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapti, Ganjam, Puri, at a few places in Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nayagarh, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and at one or two places in remaining parts of the state.

For December 5, the IMD issued orange warning (be prepared) and forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall (7 to 20 cm) may occur at one or two places in the five districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Ganjam.

The Odisha government has put all the coastal and southern district collectors on alert and cancelled the leave of field workers under the Agriculture department. The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has cancelled 60 trains and set up a round-the-clock helpline for providing information and assistance to passengers.

The effect of Cyclone Michuang may be felt in the southern districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata. Light to moderate rainfall is predicted on December 6 and 7 in Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly, the Met Department said on Sunday.