Cyclone Fani: Tamil Nadu gears up after red alert

The India Meteorological Department on Thursday, issued a red alert for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 30 and predicted rainfall at most places.

The weather department said a well-marked low pressure area is likely to intensify into a depression during the next 24 hours and into a cyclonic storm in the subsequent 24 hours over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Indian Ocean.

The department advised fishermen against venturing out to sea in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal areas until April 30. “It (the cyclone) is very likely to move northwestwards along and off the east coast of Sri Lanka near north Tamil Nadu coast on April 30,” the department said.

Following the red alert, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan had called for an urgent meeting with the key officials, in the Secretariat.

Cyclone Fani is likely to hit the state over two days and a very heavy rainfall is expected in coastal Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.