Normal life came to a standstill along the vast coastline of Nagapattinam district on Thursday evening as Cyclone Gaja headed towards the Tamil Nadu coast.
People remained indoors — as instructed by the authorities — as many parts of the district started receiving rainfall by evening.
Though the sky was clear and the sea along the Nagapattinam coast was eerily calm until afternoon the weather changed drastically around 5 p.m., when rain, accompanied by strong winds, started lashing the coastal areas. Waves became stronger as the sea turned rough along the Vedaranyam coast.
As a precautionary measure, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation disconnected power supply to most of the coastal areas. Traders and merchants, upon instruction from revenue and police officials, hurriedly downed their shops in Nagapattinam, Vedaranyam, Thoppudurai and other areas. Similarly, most of the State-owned and private buses returned to the nearest depots.
According to sources, more than 3,000 fishing boats, including 1,500 mechanised boats have been anchored in different parts of the district for the past three days.
As many as 10,692 people, including 1,587 children, were evacuated from coastal hamlets and accommodated in relief shelters. Minister for Handloom and Textiles O.S. Manian visited coastal villages.
On high alert
“There has been no damage to the infrastructure or loss of life till now,” S. Suresh Kumar, Collector, Nagapattinam, told The Hindu .
Mr. Kumar said that four teams of the National Disaster Management Force and the State Disaster Management Force had been kept on standby.
