Cyclone Vardah whooshed through Chennai on Monday, whipping up 120 kmph winds, dumping over 20 cm of rain, leaving a trail of uprooted trees, twisted streetlights and mangled cables, and disrupting normal life.
Eight people died under the impact of the cyclone. The gusty gale-force winds left arterial roads and entire neighbourhoods littered with fallen trees and branches.
The full force of the cyclone was demonstrated in Royapuram in north Chennai, where a 35-year-old man, who was looking to tie down the roof of his hose, was lifted clean up — and thrown two houses away.
Traffic was stalled on the Royapuram Bridge as aghast residents and wailing women rushed out of their tenements. Police and rescue personnel whisked away the shell-shocked man away in an ambulance within minutes.
According to the IMD, the “very severe cyclonic storm” named Vardah crossed the northern part of the city between 3 pm and 5 pm; the landfall continued till late evening.
The State government and the local administration had warned residents not to venture out of their houses between 1 pm and 4 pm, the anticipated time of landfall near Chennai. Yet, when there was a lull in the wind and the rain as the eye of the cyclone passed, residents in many parts of the city were out on the streets, either to help clear the uprooted trees or to gape at the destruction.
Schools and colleges were closed, and even private businesses declared a holiday as a precautionary measure; traffic was therefore sparse, and trains were cancelled or diverted. The airport, too, was closed; about 70 flights were cancelled.
The northern part of Tamil Nadu, particularly Chennai and its neighbouring areas Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram, bore the brunt of the cyclone. Power supply was cut across the city for safety reasons and because power lines were down. An official press release said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who updated him on the level of preparedness. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force were deployed.
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard are standing by.
During the lull in the storm, police and members of the public joined hands to clear fallen trees and debris.
More than 8,000 people were evacuated, over 10,000 food packets distributed and nearly 100 relief centres were in operation.
For Chennai’s residents, still traumatised by the floods of December 2015, Vardah left behind yet another painful memory.