At least four people died, factories were closed and the runway of one of India’s busiest airports was under water due to torrential rain as two southern states braced for a powerful cyclone to hit on Monday.
Cyclone Michaung is expected to make landfall on the coast of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh around noon on Tuesday, the weather bureau there said, with sustained winds of 90 to 100 km/h (56 to 62 mph), gusting up to 110 km/h.
Four people died in rain-related incidents in neighboring Tamil Nadu state, including two when a wall of a building collapsed, the state’s disaster management minister and a top official in his department said.
Several areas of the city were submerged in knee-deep water and there were power outages as of Monday morning, bringing back memories of December 2015 when around 290 people died after catastrophic floods.
In Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai, the state’s largest city and a major electronics and manufacturing hub, cars were swept away as floodwaters gushed through streets while its airport, one of India’s busiest, remained closed until Tuesday morning.
Authorities in both states were on high alert and evacuated thousands of people living in coastal areas, officials in both states said, warning fishermen not to venture out to sea.
In at least four districts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, schools, colleges, offices and banks were closed on Monday and Tuesday due to weather conditions, a government announcement said.
Parts of Andhra Pradesh are likely to receive more than 200 mm (8 inches) of rain in the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department said.
In Andhra Pradesh, authorities have evacuated nearly 7,000 people in eight coastal areas and are preparing to evacuate a total of 28,000 depending on the cyclone’s track and severity, a senior state disaster management department official said.
At least 800 people have so far been evacuated from Bapatla, a coastal town in Andhra Pradesh where the cyclone is expected to make landfall on Tuesday, said P Ranjit Basha, district collector of Bapatla.
