Incessant rains in South; West feels mild impact

At Madurai, the sky was cloudy since early morning and it began to drizzle at around 8 am. Slowly, the intensity of the showers increased and heavy showers started at around 10 am. Following the rain normal life was only partially affected. Despite heavy showers people were seen standing in queues outside ATM centres and Banks with umbrellas and rain coats. As it was the first day of the month salaried persons and pensioners were seen standing in the queues in the rain. 

Mobile ATM centres were also crowded and people did not really take care of the rain. Similarly, in other parts of southern districts heavy showers were witnessed in Kovilpatti and its sorrounding areas. However, the coastal areas such as Rameswaram, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari witnessed only drizzles. Fishermen did not venture into the sea following the warning issued to them. Similarly in Kanniyakumari the boat service to Vivekananda Rock and Tiruvalluvar statue was stopped and tourists visiting Kanniyakumari were disappointed at the cancellation of boat service. There was widespread rainfall at Sivagangai district but in Theni and Virudhunagar districts there were only mild showers.

Port warning No.2 issued 

Based on the cyclonic storm NADA distant warning signal number 2 had been issued to the ports in the state such as Thoothukudi, Karaikkal and Rameshwaram. Following the warning all the commercial activities had been put to a halt in the coastal areas.

Mild showers though less than half a centimeter in the evening was a sigh of relief for Coimbatoreans who were anticipating rains for weeks. There was drizzling at the city’s outskirts in the morning while it was cloudy since dawn. Mild showers were witnessed in many places in the city from 5 p.m. to late in the evening. This was a welcome sign as rains were predicted in this region only from Friday. District Collector T.N. Hariharan convened a meeting with the heads of various departments on the preparedness for the cyclone. At Salem the weather was very cold and mild drizzling was witnessed in some places in the city from 10 am to 11 am.