Rain lashes Chennai amidst a forecast that the depression over the Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a deep depression. (Picture: PTI)

Cyclone Fengal: Red alert for rain in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry today

The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for rain for Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Weather body issues red alert for rain in 3 districts in Tamil Nadu, one in Puducherry
  • Deep depression in Bay of Bengal to intensify into cyclone today
  • Flash flood alert also issued for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for heavy rain in three districts in Chennai and one district in Puducherry for Wednesday morning ahead of the cyclone storm ‘Fengal'.

It has issued a red alert for rain for Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry. A flash flood alert has also been issued for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The weather body has predicted that the deep depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm ‘Fengal’ on Wendesday.

It has predicted isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Wednesday, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Thursday, and over Andhra Pradesh from Thursday to Saturday. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea during this time.

The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal moved northwards and lay around 240 km off the Trincomalee coast in Sri Lanka, around 520 km from Tamil Nadu's Nagappattinam and 640 km off Puducherry's coast, as of 5.30 pm on Tuesday, the weather body said.

The depression will likely move north-northwestwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm on November 27, the weather body said. It will then continue to move towards the Tamil Nadu coast, in the next two days.