Pondy battered, but no loss of life reported

“There was intense rain on Wednesday night and on the wee hours of Thursday when cyclone had landfall due to which many trees got uprooted. Water logging could be witnessed in major areas such as Indira Gandhi statue where water level was up to knee length,” said Ashoka Subramaniam, a social activist in Puducherry.

Cyclone Nivar made a landfall between Puducherry and Mahabalipuram on the midnight of Wednesday and the wee hours of Thursday. As a result of cyclone, Puducherry witnessed 28 cm of rainfall resulting in water logging in many areas, including Ellaiamman Street where Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy resides.

Many government offices, including the Directorate of School Education and Secretariat in Puducherry witnessed water logging and trees being uprooted. Some trees fell inside the government offices, but they were removed with the help of volunteers and NDRF.

On Thursday morning, Narayanasamy was seen on streets to witness the damage caused by cyclone. He oversaw rescue works carried out by NDRF and instructed officials to restorer normalcy at the earliest.

“Seeing the rough sea and harsh weather before the cyclone, we were expecting a major disaster but Cyclone Nivar lost its intensity towards landfall as winds blew roughly between 70 to 80 km per hour. Fishermen hamlets and properties did not witness any damage in the cyclone,”, said fisherman M Gopi, from Thazhanguda fishermen hamlet in Cuddalore.

Earlier, a woman and her child marooned in the flood in Rainbow Nagar area close to boulevard were rescued by the police.

Four persons belonging to a family had a miraculous escape when the wall of their house collapsed due to rain under the impact of Cyclone Nivar on Thursday. According to police, Murugan, a daily wager, his wife and two children were in the house at Komarapalayam in Mannadipet Commune panchayat. They were asleep when the wall caved in. The family had a close shave as the debris of the wall fell outside, police added. Meanwhile, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi on Thursday expressed her gratitude to the people of Puducherry for abiding by the directions of the government and remaining indoors during Cyclone Nivar. In a WhatsApp post, she said we have been able to ride over the cyclone with reasonable amount of safety of life and property. So far, life has been totally safe and so as property, she said. “Every one of us tried to play our limited roles which became a very collective relief for the people of Puducherry in a cyclone of this fury,” Bedi added.