It has been raining
continuously in Chennai and all parts of coastal Tamil Nadu. Not so good news -
the deep depression lying 500 km south
east of Chennai has intensified into a cyclonic storm and is expected to cross
the coast between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh on
Wednesday, bringing in torrential rains in the region.
The intensified force now
has a name -
'Nilam', [Sun TV had it as ‘Neelam’ – which in Tamil means blue;
whereas Nilam in Tamil means land] as suggested by Pakistan under the cyclone
naming procedure. Nilam is expected
to move northwestwards and cross the
coast between Nagapattinam and Nellore by Wednesday afternoon/evening. Read more to know the meaning or rather reasoning of 'Nilam'
Coastal districts of Tamil
Nadu and Puducherry have been issued
cyclone warning on Tuesday. One can recall the devastating effects at the start
of the year or to be precise towards the last couple of days of the previous
year – Dec 2011 – cyclone Thane struck Cuddalore, Pondy leaving at least 46
dead in Tamilnadu and Pondy and also causing large scale damage to houses, farm
lands, industries and others.
This cyclone is
expected to be milder than Thane. Thane
hit the coast at 160 kms per hour; Met Department expects the speed squally
winds of Nilam to be around 45-55 kmph
gusting to 65 kmph. Officials from the Ports of Chennai and
Tuticorin have said that as part of safety measured they moved all the vessels
from the Port to the anchorage area. At Chennai port 12 vessels were moved from
the Port to the anchorage area on Tuesday evening. Authorities from the Nagapattinam district,
one of the worst hit areas during Thane cyclone, said that the each department
including the police, fire and rescue services have been allotted specific work
and they are geared up fully, 21 cyclone shelters are set ready.
In Chennai Corporation
schools and community kitchens are getting ready to be used as temporary relief
centres. Schools have been declared
holidays today and tomorrow, so did some Manufacturing units in the city. Chennaiites have to brace for heavy rains tonight also as the weather
models indicate that the cyclonic storm is likely to move westwards and could cross north Tamil Nadu and adjoining south
Andhra Pradesh coast between Nagapattinam and Nellore on Wednesday midnight.
According to the Meteorological department, distant
cautionary signal number one has been hoisted at Chennai port. This is the
lowest among the signals, which indicates the potential cyclonic storm.
If you are wondering why
‘Nilam’ and how it belongs to Pakistan - Tropical cyclones have officially been
named since 1945 and are named for a variety of reasons, which include to
facilitate communications between forecasters and the public when forecasts,
watches, and warnings are issued. Names also reduce confusion about what storm
is being described, as more than one can occur in the same region at the same
time. The official practice of naming
tropical cyclones started in 1945 within the Western Pacific and was gradually
extended out until 2004, when the India Meteorological Department started to
namecyclonic storms within the North Indian ocean. Before the official practice
of naming of tropical cyclones began, significant tropical cyclones were named
after annoying politicians, mythological creatures, saints and place names.
Names are drawn in order from predetermined lists and are usually assigned to tropical cyclones
with one, three, or ten minute sustained windspeeds of more than 65 km/h (40
mph) depending on which area it originates.
In the basin of North
Indian Ocean (45°E – 100°E), a tropical cyclone is assigned a name when it is
judged to have reached Cyclonic Storm intensity with winds of 65 km/h (40 mph).
The names were selected by members of the ESCAP/WMO panel on Tropical Cyclones
between 2000 and May 2004, before the Regional Specialized Meteorological
Center in New Delhi started to assign names in September 2004.
While India contributed names such as : Agni, Akash,
Bijli, Jal, Lehar, Megh, Sagar, Vayu; Bangladesh gave – Onil, Ogni, Nisha,
Giri….; Gonu was given by Maldives;
Myanmar gave – Pyarr, Phyan,
Thane,… Oman gave – Baaz, Sidr, Murjan… Pakistan gave : Fanoos, Nargis, Laila,
Nilam, Nilofar.. Sri Lanka gave Mala, Rashmi, Bandu, Priya… Thailand – Mukda,
Phet… etc.,
With regards
S. Sampathkumar
30th Oct 2012 @
18:00 hrs.
Sampath Sir, Thanks for this useful information.
ReplyDeleteAs a Chennaite, we always tend to feel that any cyclone only gives great threat but don't generally cross our shore. May be that is one of the reason that we don't take much needed serious precautions. Of course, in the past there are couple of occasion that it hit chennai but in the recent years, the closest I would say, is the last year Thane strom.
Probably because of the geographical position of Chennai, we are escaping with just rainfall. May be this time also :-)
In my opinion, even the rainfall is difficult to handle leaving alone storm.
finally we got it we are lucky that nilam has ble3ssed with copious rains this time rain starvd staterelief what happen3d to kaveri water almighy will take careoff halo kannadigas give water dont stop by bandh almight is with us beware of nature
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