Chennai cyclone Vardah rains
Rescue members cut a tree that fell on a road after it was uprooted by strong winds in Chennai, on December 12 2016.Reuters

A day after making landfall in Tamil Nadu, Cyclone Vardah has weakened to a deep depression while continuing to bring rainfall in Bengaluru. The cyclone has claimed the lives of 10 people -- four in Chennai, two each in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, and one each in Villupuram and Nagapattinam -- and caused widespread damage in Tamil Nadu. 

Over 10,000 people have been evacuated by the NDRF teams and sent to over 300 relief camps. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that a total of 11,899 people were rescued by 19 NDRF teams in different parts of Tamil Nadu. It also said that 14,581 food packets were supplied to the citizens rescued.

Late on Monday night, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announced that Rs 4 lakh would be given from the state's disaster relief fund to the next of kin of those who died due to Cyclone Vardah.

Now, the cyclone -- despite being weakened -- is headed towards Bengaluru, which is slated to witness wind speeds of 40-50 kmph. The BBMP mayor as well as Karnataka revenue secretary for disaster management have warned people of the widespread rain and strong winds in the city. Showers are also expected in districts across Karnataka like Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Tumakuru.

Helpline Numbers: 

  • Chennai Corporation Whatsapp - 94454 77207, 94454 77203, 94454 77206 , 94454 77201, 94454 77205
  • Chennai Corporation Helplines - 25619206, 25619511 , 25384965 ,25383694, 25367823, 25387570
  • Puducherry: 1077, 1070
  • Cuddalore: 1077, 04142 220700, 231666
  • Control Room Andhra Pradesh: 0866-2488000
  • Control Room Tamil Nadu: 044-28593990

Here are live updates from the second day of Cyclone Vardah, when Bengaluru is expected to be the worst affected:

3:10 pm IST: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a high-level meeting in Delhi on Tuesday to take stock of the situation of the relief operations following the landfall of Cyclone Vardah in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

According to an official statement: "Rajnath Singh, after review, expressed his satisfaction on the preparedness of the Central and state agencies in handling the devastating cyclone which has resulted in minimising casualties. He ordered to keep the inter-ministerial Central team ready to be sent to Tamil Nadu immediately on receipt of the Memorandum from the state government."

2:02 pm IST:

2 pm IST:

1:20 pm IST:

1:10 pm IST: Partial services of the Chennai Suburban Rail have resumed.

12:39 pm IST:

12:20 pm IST:

10:40 am IST: "Instructed Revenue, Police, State Disaster Response Force and other departments not to lower their guard against Cyclone Vardah. Will extend possible assistance to Tamil Nadu, that suffered extensive damage. We'll discuss contribution that can be made to Tamil Nadu: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu was quoted by ANI as saying.

10:03 am IST: "Cyclonic activity over north Tamil Nadu moved further west-southwestwards over the past six hours with a speed of 20 kmph and weakened into a depression. The system is very likely to continue to move west-sothwestwards and weaken gradually into a well marked low-pressure area over the next six hours. Rainfall at many places with isolated heavy falls over north Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas of south interior Karnataka is likely during next 12 hrs," the NDMA said in a series of tweets.

10:01 am IST: Flight operations have resumed at Tirupati Airport after it was temporarily suspended due to Cyclone Vardah that hit Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on Monday, ANI reported.

10 am IST:

9:41 am IST:

9:24 am IST:

9:22 am IST:

9:07 am IST: "Situation being monitored closely by concerned authorities.Working to restore normalcy as fast as we can." DG NDRF RK Pachnanda told ANI.

9:02 am IST:

8:37 am IST:

8:33 am IST:

8:19 am IST: 

7:10 am IST: Chennai airport is now operational after having been shut on Monday due to the cyclone. Flights have been operational since 5:45 am on Tuesday.

7:07 am IST: Government and private schools, colleges and other educational institutions in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur will remain closed, ANI reported.

5 am IST: Cyclone Vardah is expected to reach Karnataka on Tuesday.

4:20 am IST: Rainfall is likely to continue over north Tamil Nadu for the next 24 hrs and over the districts of Nellore, Kadapa and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh for the next 12 hours.

Wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph are expected to prevail in Tamil Nadu for the next six hours following which the speed will decrease.

4:05 am IST: IMD said that Cyclone Vardah has weakened into a deep depression at 23:30 hrs IST of 12th Dec 2016.

4 am IST: There is also no information from the Kempegowda International Airport, with airport sources informing International Business Times India, that any information on cancellation of flights would come from the airlines themselves.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru City Traffic Police has issued advisory on vehicles on the road.

3 am IST: There is no official word on the preparedness of Bengaluru for Cyclone Vardah from either the NDMA or any other local sources. Nevertheless, it would be a good idea for office-goers to keep an eye on the official Twitter handles of the Bengaluru City Police and the Bengaluru Traffic Police, both of which are quite prompt when dispensing important information.

2 am IST: Bengaluru has been witnessing near-incessant rain all over from early Monday evening -- a trend that is expected to continue into Tuesday.

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