Four dead, trees uprooted as Cyclone Mandous lashes India's Tamil Nadu

Four persons were reportedly killed across the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu after Cyclone Mandous made a landfall on its shores late on Friday (9) night. Those who came on its path experienced a wind speed of 75 kilometres per hour.

The cyclone has now weakened into a deep depression and many parts of neighbouring states such as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were also witnessing heavy rain.

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, received up to 115 millimetres (mm) of rainfall as a result of the storm. Its impact also saw 400 trees in the coastal city getting uprooted, state chief minister MK Stalin said.

Stalin, who reviewed the situation, told reporters that his government took preventive measures to prevent the damage. He said with advanced planning, the authorities proved that any disaster could be averted.

The cyclone's landfall began around 11.30 pm local time off Mamallapuram.

In Kovalam near Mamallapuram, boats and seaside shops were reportedly damaged. Officials were examining the extent of damages, it was learnt. Many areas hit by the cyclone also reported waterlogging. Properties were also damaged.

A number of domestic and international flights were cancelled at Chennai airport ahead of the landfall due to unfavourable weather conditions.

Mandous was earlier classified as 'severe cyclonic storm', the fourth highest, meaning winds blowing between 89-117 kilometres per hour. It was later downgraded to 'cyclonic storm' with winds at 62-88 km/hour.

Besides stationing National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in 10 districts of the state, the Tamil Nadu government has also opened more than 5,000 relief centres.

Heavy rain was reported in several parts of south coastal and Rayalaseema districts of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh early on Saturday (10). According to a status report of the state government, Naidupeta in Tirupati district witnessed heavy rainfall at 281.5 mm during the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Saturday.

The cyclone was named by the United Arab Emirates as a member of the World Meteorological Organisation. In Arabic, it means "treasure box" and is pronounced as "Man-Dous".

Cyclones across the world are named by respective specialised regional meteorological centres and tropical cyclone-warning centres.