People in the Cauvery delta districts, especially fishermen, heaved a sigh of relief at the break of dawn on Thursday as Cyclone Nivar that made landfall in the intervening night was not so intense as it was feared. There has been no loss of life so far, and the damage to the livestock and infrastructure is minimal.
Many spent a sleepless night as heavy rain and strong winds lashed the region as the cyclone made the landfall.
Many parts of the region received heavy rain. Sirkazhi and Kollidam recorded more than 100 mm of rainfall. Most water courses in the northern part of Nagapattinam district were full. Paddy fields were inundated in the low-level areas of Kollidam, Sirkazhi, Vaitheeswaran Koil and Poompuhar. The impact appeared to be more severe in Poompuhar, where paddy has been raised on over 200 acres.
Uprooted trees could be found at Kottu Gudalure, a village on the borders of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts. “As power supply was turned off, we had to spend a sleepless night. It was raining all through the night with strong winds. However, we feel a bit relieved because Cyclone Nivar has not wreaked havoc, unlike Gaja in 2018,” said J. Singaravel, a resident of the village.
Instances of uprooting of trees were reported at a few places along the Mayiladuthurai-Kollidam Highway. Workers brought from Coimbatore, Tiruchi and other districts, members of the State Disaster Response Force and volunteers cleared the trees. Power cables snapped at at least five places in the district.
Since fishermen had moved their boats away from the coastline in Karaikal, Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam, their livelihood was not impacted. A fisherman at Poompuhar said most of the boats were safe.
Nagappattinam Collector Praveen K. Nair told The Hindu that the uprooted trees were cleared immediately. As a precautionary measure, power supply had been disconnected in a few areas. Teams of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation had been sent to the affected areas. Power supply was restored at most places later in the day. The Collector said there was no report of loss of life in any part of the district, and over 45,000 people had been sheltered in relief centres.
Waterlogging in paddy fields was reported at a few places, Mr. Nair said, adding that Agricultural Department officials were instructed to survey such tracts.
