Cyclone Ditwah: Intense rainfall expected in Tamil Nadu till weekend

Cyclonic storm Ditwah over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka coast and the depression (remnant of cyclonic storm 'Senyar') over the Strait of Malacca are expected to bring rains

- AJIKUMAR CHENNAI

Cyclone Ditwah, now positioned over coastal Sri Lanka and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal, is set to bring intense rainfall over the delta and adjoining districts on Friday, before shifting towards north Tamil Nadu by weekend.

A yellow alert has been sounded for five south coastal and delta districts, including Ramanathapuram and Thanjavur. With the weather system expected to intensify further, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has given orange and yellow alerts for delta and adjoining districts such as Ariyalur and Cuddalore on Friday (November 28, 2025).

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted very heavy to scattered extremely heavy rainfall for Rayalaseema and South Coastal Andhra Pradesh on November 29, 30 and December 1 as Ditwah, is expected to move closer to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

A team of 30 Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force personnel from Avadi have landed at Thanjavur on Friday along with necessary equipment required for the relief operations. Another team of 30 TNDRF personnel have reached Tiruvarur.

Fishermen, both country-made and mechanised boat users, along the Thanjavur district coast stayed away from the sea on Friday (November 28) and majority of those who have ventured into the sea for deep sea fishing a few days ago have returned to the shore, heeding to the announcement made by the State government, according to official sources.