Schools in numerous Tamil Nadu districts shut as Cyclone Fengal approaches India coast
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Fishing crews were urged to stay off the water amid predictions of surging waves of 1m that posed a flood risk to low-lying coastal areas in India’s south.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
BENGALURU – Schools in India’s south were shut and hundreds of people moved inland to storm shelters ahead of a powerful cyclone storm set to hit the region on Nov 30.
Fishing crews were urged in the forecast to stay off the water amid predictions of surging waves of 1m that posed a flood risk to low-lying coastal areas.
Schools and colleges in numerous districts across Tamil Nadu were shut and at least 471 people had been moved to relief camps, The Economic Times newspaper reported.
Cyclones – the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the north-western Pacific – are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.
Cyclone Fengal skirted the coast of Sri Lanka
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.
Warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapour, which provides additional energy for storms, strengthening winds.
A warming atmosphere also allows them to hold more water, boosting heavy rainfall.
But better forecasting and more effective evacuation planning have dramatically reduced death tolls. AFP
