Sun Dec 01 01:20:00 UTC 2024: ## Cyclone Mandous Makes Landfall Near Puducherry, Triggers Heavy Rainfall Across Tamil Nadu
**Puducherry, December 1, 2024** – Cyclone Mandous made landfall between 10:30 PM and 11:30 PM yesterday near Puducherry, packing winds of 70-80 kmph, gusting up to 90 kmph, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The cyclone, which originated over the southwest Bay of Bengal, moved slowly at a speed of 7 kmph over the past six hours, remaining largely stationary for the preceding three hours before making landfall.
The IMD reports that Mandous weakened into a deep depression after landfall, moving westward. Heavy rainfall lashed coastal areas of northern Tamil Nadu, with some areas experiencing extremely heavy downpours. In the 24 hours leading up to 7 AM this morning, three locations recorded very heavy rainfall, six recorded extremely heavy rainfall, and twenty recorded heavy rainfall. Mayiladuthurai in Viluppuram district received a staggering 50 cm of rainfall, while Puducherry recorded 46 cm – the highest ever recorded in the city, surpassing the previous record of 21 cm set in 2004.
The Puducherry administration urged citizens to stay indoors overnight and this morning due to the severe weather. District Collector, Mr. Kulathungan, stated that the district administration has taken necessary steps to manage the impact of the cyclone, setting up relief camps and deploying around 4000 government employees.
A red alert for extremely heavy rainfall remains in effect today for Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Viluppuram, Cuddalore districts, and Puducherry. The IMD has issued a heavy rainfall warning for Tamil Nadu until December 3rd.
The severe weather conditions led to the closure of Chennai airport yesterday, resulting in the cancellation of 226 flights and the diversion of 20 inbound flights. Flight operations resumed at 1 AM today.
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