Cyclone Mandous Lashes Indian Coasts

Cyclone Mandous made landfall late Friday night, crossing the coast in Tamil Nadu, a South Indian state, with a wind speed of 75km per hour.

The weather system has now weakened into a deep depression, reports NDTV.

The cyclone began landfall around 11.30 pm on Friday and crossed the coast near Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) around 1:30 am on Saturday, uprooting hundreds of trees in Chengalpattu and neighbouring Chennai.

On the intensity scale, it was earlier classified as a 'Severe Cyclonic Storm', the fourth highest, meaning winds of 89-117km per hour. It has since come down to 'Cyclonic Storm' with winds at 62-88km per hour.

Chennai received up to 115mm of rain. "Around 200 trees have fallen and we have been clearing them since night," said Gagandeep Singh Bedi, commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation.

"A major damage has been averted as we had secured many hoardings early," he added. The city also witnessed waterlogging. As work clearing fallen trees is underway, Chennai city and Chengalpattu districts are facing power cuts.

Ahead of the landfall, 13 domestic and three international flights were cancelled at the Chennai airport due to bad weather.