Tamil Nadu: IMD red alert for 3 districts; 5 NDRF teams on standby

Owing to the “well-marked low-pressure area” in the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red Alert for very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall (up to 21 cm in 24 hours) for Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi districts in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, 12th December. 

Chennai city and 16 districts of Tamil Nadu, the Union territory of Puducherry, have been issued an Orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall (12-20 cm), while 10 other districts have been issued a Yellow alert for heavy rain (7-11 cm). 

In meteorology, a low-pressure area is associated with rainfall, stormy weather, rough sea conditions, and gusty winds. 

The weather system lay in the Palk Strait region, which is a narrow strip of ocean separating the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the island nation of Sri Lanka.

The IMD maintains that the system is likely to move west-northwestwards towards the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, following which it will weaken into a ‘low-pressure area’ around Friday, 13th December. For Friday, a yellow alert for heavy rainfall has been issued for 12 districts spanning the western and southern regions of Tamil Nadu. 

With winds forecast to be gusting at 55 kmph until Saturday, 14th December, fishermen have been advised to avoid venturing out along the Tamil Nadu Coast. Similar conditions are expected to prevail along parts of the Kerala coast as well, and a warning has been issued for fishermen. 

Over the last 24 hours, a maximum of 18 cm of rainfall has been recorded in Kodiayakarai, Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. Chennai city and adjoining regions have also witnessed around 10 cm of rainfall. 

In light of the rainfall alert, five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are on standby for deployment, with 30 personnel in each team.

In addition to this, one team is pre-positioned at the Union Territory of Puducherry, while another is en route to Tiruvannamalai district, where a temple festival is to take place, amid the rainfall warning.