After making landfall in Sri Lanka, Cyclone Burevi weakened into a deep depression on Thursday night and will cross Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi districts by the wee hours of Friday packing wind speeds of 50 to 60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph.
“It is very likely to weaken further into a depression (wind speed 40-50kmph gusting to 60 kmph) by December 4 morning,” the IMD said in its latest bulletin issued at 9 pm. Under the influence of the deep depression, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will receive rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places till Friday.
Before the cyclonic storm weakened into a deep depression, the Tamil Nadu government announced a public holiday for Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, and Thoothukudi districts on Friday.
As rains pounded southern districts, flights from Thoothukudi to Chennai and Bengaluru were cancelled. More than 500 people in Rameswaram and Thoothukudi were moved to relief camps, while NDRF and state response teams are on the ground.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala – Edappadi K Palaniswami and Pinarayi Vijayan and offered all assistance from the Centre.
Chennai experienced heavy rains through the night as over 3 cm rainfall was recorded till 8.30 am on Thursday. With six trees uprooted overnight, the number of trees fallen this monsoon season has gone up to 695.