Offering a brief respite after pounding Chennai since morning, cyclone Fengal made landfall near the Puducherry late on Saturday evening.
Moving at a much reduced speed of 6 kmph than the previous 13 kmph, the centre of the cyclonic system would take another three to four hours to cross the coast, the Regional Meteorological Centre said.
While heavy downpour will resume later in the night accompanied by squally winds, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur and Kallakurichi districts besides Puducherry will experience intense extreme rainfall, it added.
The above region too would witness gusty winds lashing at a speed up to 90 kmph.
Of all the cyclones in the last few decades, only Fengal has stayed for a longer duration in the Bay before crossing the coast making it difficult to gauge its movement and tracking its trajectory.
Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director S Balachandran told the media that the cyclone “while crossing the coast between Karaikal and Mamallapuram, would be further weakened, bringing in its wake extreme heavy rain to the northern coast.”
Following the inclement weather, the runway and taxi of the Chennai airport are under water forcing its closure till Sunday morning. While all departures were cancelled, incoming flights have been diverted to other nearby airports.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister MK Stalin held a review of the cyclone preparedness with top officials and ordered that food be provided free at the Amma Canteens, centres providing subsidised food in the city.
Further, the Chennai Coporation has supplied food to 2.23 lakh people staying at relief shelters and camps. Besides the NDRF teams, the state government had deployed SDRF teams in the seven vulnerable districts.
Further, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said a total of 500 health camps would be held on Sunday in Chennai and six other districts.
Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin visited the control room at the Corporation and also inspected rainwater draining works across the city.
The Corporation has deployed over 1700 motor pumps to drain flood waters from residential localities. However, many low-lying areas of Chennai, particularly Korattur and Royapuram in north Chennai and Ambattur and Avadi in the west as well as Alwarpet and Teynampet adjoining the posh Poes Garden area are surrounded by flood waters. Flood waters have entered the Children’s Hospital.
While the sea is rough with high tides lashing the shores, the Marina beach, second longest in the world, is covered by a blanket of water.
According to the MeT office, heavy rains would continue for the next 48 hours. The public have been asked to remain indoors on Sunday as well by both the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments. The red alert for Chennai and the other districts still remains.