Cyclone Ditwah Nears Tamil Nadu Coast; IMD Issues High Alert As Sri Lanka Death Toll Crosses 80

Cyclone Ditwah: The slow-moving Cyclone Ditwah brought steady rainfall to southern Tamil Nadu on Friday, even as northern parts of the state, including Chennai, prepared for intense showers over the weekend. The system has been crawling over Sri Lanka, covering barely 70 km in 15 hours as its speed dropped to around 3 kmph.

Storm Weakening, But Heavy Rains Likely

Although Ditwah is expected to weaken into a deep depression by the time it moves parallel to the Chennai coast on November 30, the system is still likely to trigger widespread heavy rainfall.

The cyclone is currently positioned 470 km south of Chennai and is forecast to continue its north-northwest track across the Sri Lanka coast and the southwest Bay of Bengal. It is likely to reach the North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, South Andhra Pradesh coasts by early Saturday morning.

The storm has already caused major destruction in Sri Lanka, leaving more than 80 people dead. In response, India has launched Operation Sagar Bandhu, sending the first consignment of relief aid through INS Vikrant and INS Udaigiri.

Red Alerts In TN; AP Intensifies Preparedness

The IMD has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rain (over 20 cm in 24 hours) on Saturday at isolated locations across four coastal districts of north Tamil Nadu. Chennai and 13 adjoining districts remain under an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall.

P. Senthamarai Kannan, Director of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said wind speeds may intensify from Saturday, touching 70–80 kmph and gusting up to 90 kmph over the delta region, coastal districts, Puducherry and Karaikal. 

Andhra Pradesh has activated control rooms and deployed disaster response teams as heavy rain is expected in parts of Rayalaseema and south coastal AP from Saturday to Sunday. Several districts are under an orange alert for Saturday, followed by a red alert on Sunday.

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