Cyclone Ditwah 530 km from Chennai; red and orange alerts for heavy rainfall issued to north TN, Puducherry

CHENNAI: Cyclonic Storm Ditwah moved closer to India’s east coast on Friday, now 530 km south of Chennai as it strengthens over coastal Sri Lanka and the southwest Bay of Bengal. North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh have been asked to stay alert, with coastal districts warned of heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas over the weekend.

The storm, which has been gradually intensifying over the past day, is expected to shift into the southwest Bay of Bengal and head towards the stretch between north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh. Current forecasts indicate that Ditwah is likely to reach the waters off these coasts by the early hours of November 30.

As per latest forecasts, the storm was moving north-northwest at around 10 kmph, positioned over coastal Sri Lanka and the adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal. It was about 40 km southwest of Trincomalee and 100 km northwest of Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, and roughly 320 km south-southeast of Karaikal, 430 km south-southeast of Puducherry, and 530 km south of Chennai.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Chennai has issued red alerts for extremely heavy rainfall (over 20 cm in a 24-hour period) in isolated places across Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Mayiladuthurai until November 30.

An orange alert has been issued to Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Ranipet and Chengalpattu, where isolated locations are likely to receive rainfall between 11 and 20 cm, until December 1, the weather department said.

Meanwhile, the depression that remained from Cyclonic Storm ‘Senyar’ over the Strait of Malacca weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area late on Thursday and moved away from the region by early Friday.

(With Bureau inputs)