Mass Evacuations Hailed For Casualty-free India Cyclone

Accurate forecasting and the evacuation of several hundred thousand people helped avert any loss of life after a cyclone clobbered southeast India, authorities said Thursday, as rescuers worked to restore power and clear fallen trees

Puducherry, India, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2020 ) :Accurate forecasting and the evacuation of several hundred thousand people helped avert any loss of life after a cyclone clobbered southeast India, authorities said Thursday, as rescuers worked to restore power and clear fallen trees.

Nivar made landfall at 3:05 am (2135 GMT) near Puducherry, packing gusts of up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour, uprooting trees and bringing torrential rain of up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) in a few hours in some parts.

Thousands of emergency personnel were deployed in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry as authorities began restoring power that had been suspended to prevent damage to the electricity grid.

One woman in Tamil Nadu died after a boundary wall collapsed following heavy rains late Wednesday, local media reported, but this was not confirmed by local authorities who said there was no loss of life.