The very severe cyclonic storm Nivar, had crossed the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast near Puducherry on November 25 night and November 26 with an estimated wind speed of 120-130 kmph, said the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday.
On its way the cyclone uprooted several trees in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district. The district administration is busy in removing the fallen trees.
According to the weather department the cyclone lays centered over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry about 25km north of Puducherry with wind blowing at a speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph.
The cyclone begun its landfall on Wednesday night about 10.30 pm after moving at a speed of 16 kmph for six hours. According to the weather department Nivar crossed the coasts between 11.30 pm on November 25 and 2.30 am on November 26.
Even after landfall, the system is likely to maintain its cyclone intensity for about six hours and weaken gradually.
The sea along the coast is very rough with huge waves hitting the shores. Under its influence rainfall at most/many places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places with isolated extremely heavy falls likely to occur over Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Vellore districts of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor, Kurnool, Prakasam and Cuddappa districts of Andhra Pradesh on November 26.
Gale wind speed reaching 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph very likely to prevail over interior districts (Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Vellore) of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh during November 26 early morning to forenoon, the weather department said.
The Puducherry government too has announced Thursday as public holiday. 25 teams from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed on the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh.
