Heavy to extremely heavy rains: Red alert issued for four districts in Tamil Nadu till May 21

CHENNAI: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has issued a red alert for four districts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday till May 21, forecasting heavy rains, owing to a cyclonic circulation close to the region.

Red alert has been issued to Theni, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari districts, indicating heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain at one or two places.

Also Read: Heavy rains: Red alert in 4 southern Tamil Nadu districts; low pressure in Bay of Bengal may bring intense spells soon, say weathermen

Heavy to very heavy rain is also likely to occur today and tomorrow (May 19 and May 20) at isolated places over Virudhunagar, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Nilgiris and Dindigul districts, where an orange alert has been sounded.

Meanwhile, heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Madurai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Pudukkottai districts as well today.

Also, heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Madurai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Pudukkottai districts as well.

Interior, south-east, and north-east districts of Tamil Nadu are also witnessing heavy rain.

Also Read: Heavy rain warning for Kanniyakumari: Dams under surveillance, officials on standby for rescue ops

Due to the atmospheric circulation prevailing over the south-eastern districts and adjoining areas, there is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder, lightning, and strong winds in most parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal till May 21. Many places in the region could get light rain with thunder, lightning, and strong winds on May 22 as well, the weather department added, as a low-pressure area is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal on May 22.

Thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds with speed reaching 40-50 kmph are likely to occur at one or two places over Tamil Nadu, between May 19 and 21, the weather department added.

Also Read: Red alert in Tenkasi for extremely heavy rain, bathing banned in all waterfalls in Courtallam till May 21

Kerala issued red alert

It has also issued a red alert for heavy rain in various places in Kerala including Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki districts for May 19 and May 20.

Additionally, an orange alert was issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Ernakulam for those two days.

The weather department further issued an orange alert in nine districts for May 21 and said some of them were likely to receive rains similar to that of a red alert.