Cyclone Ditwah lashes Tamil Nadu with strong winds, rain; schools closed

Rain triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, which entered the open sea inching towards Tamil Nadu coast, lashed the coastal areas and the Cauvery delta districts on Saturday.

A tourist van got stranded in an area marooned near a canal in Ramanthapuram district. The occupants, however, had a providential escape as they managed to step out through the rear door.

The district administration has warned people not to venture out unnecessarily due to the adverse weather conditions of strong gales and heavy downpour.

Tourists have been asked not to visit Dhanushokodi on the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island, which is west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, as a precaution. The town was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone in Rameswaram.

Several parts in the state, including Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Thiruvidaimarudur, Kumbakonam, Papanasam, Thiruvaiyaru, Pattukottai, Cuddalore and parts of Chennai, received heavy rain.

The rain forced the administration in the vulnerable districts to order closure of schools for the day.

Strong winds and high tides, accompanied by rainfall, was reported in Ramanthapuram and Nagapattinam districts.

“The Cyclonic Storm Ditwah over coastal Sri Lanka and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with the speed of 8 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 5.30 am today over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining north Sri Lanka,” the IMD said.

It lay 190 km south-southeast of Karaikal, 300 km south-southeast of Puducherry, and 400 km south of Chennai, and is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards and reach over southwest Bay of Bengal near North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by early morning of November 30, the weather bulletin said.

Private weather bloggers said there was no change in the cyclone’s track and that it moved parallel to the Tamil Nadu coast, and it would bring more rain over Chennai, Cuddalore and Puducherry by tonight.

The name, ‘Ditwah’, referring to a lagoon, was suggested by Yemen. It is likely named after Detwah Lagoon, a large, saline lagoon on the northwest coast of the island of Socotra in Yemen.