Delta faces fury of approaching storm

Though the rain started as a mild drizzle from Wednesday night, it lashed most of the districts like Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam from Thursday 6.30 am. Subsequently, there was intermittent rains across the districts. Due to the rains the parched fields were seen with traces of rain water across many places giving respite to the farmers who were worried about the cracked land in which paddy crop has been standing. Meanwhile, due to the cyclonic warning in coastal district of Nagapattinam, the sea was rough from the morning hours. And the fisheries department along with the coastal security groups, urged the fishermen not to venture into sea and even asked those fishermen who had already in the mid sea to return. 

As per the advice, the fishermen started to reach the coast from morning. While the Commissioner of Disaster Management, Pradeep Yadav visited Nagapattinam and inspected the precautionery arragements made for the post Nada. He also interacted with the NDRF personnel who were on duty for the rescue operation. Later, he inspected the stock of food items and speacial camp locations and ensured the safety. District Collector S Palanisamy accompanied the Commissioner. As per the rain record at 4 pm, Tiruchy received an average of 11.74 mm rain with the maximum of 28 at Murisi while in Thanjavur received average of 15.15 mm and Tiruvarur received 18mm. And Nagapattinam reveivd the maximum of 20.88 mm rainfall on average.

Over 100 fibreglass boats anchored along the Poompuhar coast in this district were damaged in the strong winds, while a patrol boat of Indian Navy reportedly sank in sea today.  Fisheries department officials said the fishing boats collided each other and some of them were tossed due to the gusty winds and rough seas.  A patrol boat of Indian Navy was reportedly sunk in sea. No sailor was on board when the boat sunk at the naval detachment here. Efforts were underway to retrieve the boat. The coastal districts of Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli, besides the Delta, Southern and Central districts of Tamil Nadu were experiencing rains and winds as the Cyclonic storm Nada, which was now weakened into deep depression, was set to cross the  coast between Vedaranyam and Puducherry early tomorrow.