Cyclone Nivar May Slam Into South India as Category 2 Storm
Storm Nivar over the Bay of Bengal is likely to turn into a “very severe cyclone” by Wednesday night.
(Bloomberg) -- Storm Nivar over the Bay of Bengal is likely to turn into a “very severe cyclone” by Wednesday night and may cause widespread damage to crops, mud houses and electricity poles in some southern Indian states.
The storm, which is likely to have a sustained wind speed of 120 to 130 kilometers (75-81 miles) per hour, will cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Wednesday midnight and early hours of Nov. 26, according to the India Meteorological Department. The wind speed may even rise to as much as 145 kilometers, it said in a statement.
Heavy rain is expected in some areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for two days from Wednesday, the weather office said. The cyclone will be intense enough to damage crops, plantations, trees, mud houses and communication and electric poles, the statement said, advising fishermen to suspend their operations in the region.
Nivar will likely strengthen to become equivalent to a category 2 hurricane before striking India on Wednesday night, Jason Nicholls, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, said in a Twitter post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured all possible support to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry state governments.
The Tamil Nadu government opened sluice gates of a lake near Chennai as a precautionary measure, raising concerns about partial flooding in some parts of the metropolitan city, according to regional television news channels. It also declared a public holiday on Thursday.
Flights Canceled
At least two dozen flights were canceled on Wednesday, according to the Chennai airport. IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, said its operations to and from four Southern Indian cities, including Chennai, are likely to be affected by the cyclone. SpiceJet and Vistara also warned of flights getting affected in some cities. Several trains in the region were also canceled, the Southern Railway said.
Indian Oil Corp., the nation’s biggest fuel retailer, said it had already built reserves of LPG, gasoline and diesel to ensure supplies in areas along the cyclone’s path. The company has also set up a crisis control room in Chennai to monitor the situation, according to a spokesman. Indian Oil has an LNG terminal, while its unit Chennai Petroleum Corp. operates two refineries in Tamil Nadu.
The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, India’s upstream oil regulator, has asked drillers in the path of Nivar to take all safety protocols for men, materials and operations.
About 22 teams from the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry, while eight others were ready in reserve, according to S.N. Pradhan, director general of the agency. Another 20 teams are also on standby, it said.
Nivar is the third cyclone to hit Indian coasts since May, when storm Amphan, the biggest cyclone to hit South Asia in two decades, affected millions across the region and killed about 100 people. Cyclone Nisarga crossed the coast near Alibag in neighboring Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra in June.
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