Newsinc24 Team 
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) director-general SN Pradhan said that Cyclone Nivar may make landfall after 2 am on November 26. Over one lakh people have been evacuated across Tamil Nadu and more than 1,000 people have been evacuated in Puducherry. Cyclone Nivar has intensified into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’.
The Chennai airport on Wednesday evening had cancelled all flight operations from Wednesday7pm till 7 am on Thursday. The decision has been taken considering the safety aspect of passengers and the severity of approaching Cyclone, the airport authorities added. Meanwhile, the Railways cancelled more than a dozen special trains on Wednesday and Thursday which were scheduled to either originate from and terminated in southern states. The Railways added that full refund fill be given for the trains which were fully cancelled in view of the cyclone and the time limit for availing them has been extended to six months from the date of journey.
Torrential rain and heavy winds continued to lash Chennai and the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, “Even after landfall, the system is likely to maintain its cyclonic intensity for about 6 hours and weaken gradually,” the weather office said in its 4.30 pm bulletin. Rainfall has been predicted to continue until November 27,” said S Balachandran, Director, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai. As of 5.00 pm, 1,217 people including 259 children were evacuated and sent to 25 relief camps in Chennai. All major arterial roads in Chennai have been closed until further orders.
A public holiday has been announced on Thursday too across 16 districts. Electricity supply was interrupted in several parts of Chennai and other districts with trees and electricity poles being uprooted. Buses and cars were stranded on roads and subways. Around 1,200 National Disaster Response Force personnel have been deployed in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as well. The Indian Navy has said it is closely monitoring the movement of Nivar, and is in constant touch with officials of both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments. Naval ships, aircraft and rescue and diving teams have been kept on standby.
