Red alert: Tamil Nadu braces for a cyclone

12 SPECIALISED RESCUE TEAMS TO ENSURE RAPID RESPONSE

- BY STEPHEN N. R.

Motorists holding umbrellas ride along a street amid heavy rains in Chennai yesterday, following a cyclone warning by the India Meteorological Department.

(AFP)

Tamil Nadu's coastal districts are on high alert as a cyclonic circulation over the South Bay of Bengal threatens to intensify into a depression, bringing widespread heavy to very heavy rainfall across the region.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the system moved toward north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry-Karaikal, and south Andhra Pradesh coasts.

The weather bureau has issued a cyclone warning for coastal areas and a red alert for parts of Tamil Nadu, warning of extremely heavy rainfall in some districts.