Barricades blocking access to famous beaches were put up in Chennai.
Cyclone Fengal has started making landfall near the Puducherry coast and it likely take the storm to cross the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next three to four hours, said the weather office India Meteorological Department or IMD.
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Heavy rain and gusty winds triggered by the storm preceded the landfall and disrupted flight and train services in Chennai. Several hospitals and houses were also flooded in the capital city.
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Schools and colleges in several districts in Tamil Nadu have been shut and hundreds of people moved inland to storm shelters ahead of a powerful cyclone storm set to hit the region on Saturday.
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In the neighbouring union territory Puducherry, people living in low-lying areas were evacuated and the administration sent SMS alerts cautioning residents to brace for the cyclone.
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Part of the Chennai airport was inundated and hundreds of passengers were impacted due to multiple flight cancellations. Operations at the airport will be suspended till 4 am on Sunday.
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As many as 20 flights were cancelled in Hyderabad as well which were services to and from Chennai and Tirupati.
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The heavy rain also impacted train services in Chennai with the Southern Railway announcing changes in services.
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Barricades blocking access to famous beaches, including the Marina and Mamallapuram, were put up in Chennai.
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In a rain-related incident, a migrant worker who tried to withdraw cash from an ATM in Chennai, was reportedly electrocuted.
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The forecast urged fishing crews to stay off the water and predicted surging waves of one metre (three feet) that posed a flood risk to low-lying coastal areas.
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Fengal skirted the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this week, killing at least 12 people including six children.
