Heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu, red alert for three Kerala districts

Several parts of Tamil Nadu recorded heavy rainfall on Wednesday, forcing schools in several districts to remain closed. This came amid a low pressure area having formed over southwestern Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, The Hindu reported.

The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert indicating extremely heavy rainfall in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

An orange alert for heavy rainfall was issued for Tiruvallur, Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts. A yellow alert was issued for the remaining districts.

A red alert requires the authorities to “take action” in view of an extreme weather event, while an orange alert expects the administration to “be prepared”. A yellow alert means that authorities should “be updated” on the situation.

The weather agency also said that the well-marked low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal was likely to turn into a depression over the southwestern and the adjoining west-central areas of the bay off the coasts of northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh by Wednesday afternoon, The Hindu reported.

The weather system will move towards the coasts and intensify into a deep depression by Thursday afternoon, it added.

B Amudha, an official at the Regional Meteorological Centre, said there will be...

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