A portion of a 'permanent ramp' that was recently installed at Marina Beach in Chennai to help differently-abled people, was damaged by strong winds on Saturday as Cyclone Mandous passed through Tamil Nadu.
The ramp was inaugurated on November 27.
Chennai and several other parts of Tamil Nadu witnessed heavy rain and strong winds as cyclonic storm Mandous crossed the state on Saturday after landfall, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD said it has crossed the Mamallapuram coast and weakened after completing its landfall process late Friday.
A wall collapsed in T Nagar area of Chennai and caused severe damage to three cars that were parked near it as Mandous raged. Nobody was present inside the vehicles at the time of the incident.
Mandous is all set to weaken to a deep depression and later a depression on Saturday, as per the regional Met office.
S Balachandran, DDGM, RMC Chennai, said "Cyclone Mandous crossed the coast and is in deep depression and its strength is weakening. It is moving towards the Northwest direction so areas in northwest districts will witness strong winds of 55-65 kmph which will further decrease by evening to 30-40 kmph."
Several areas in Chennai saw waterlogging and squally winds uprooting trees in the state capital and the nearby Chengalpattu district.
The rainfall triggered by the cyclone has caused severe waterlogging in low-lying areas. Roads in the MMDA Colony in Arumbakkam here were submerged. A video showed a large tree uprooted in Egmore, damaging a petrol bunk nearby.
Earlier Saturday, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) requested people to avoid going out until Cyclone Mandous weaken. It is said that almost 65 trees fell in three hours and motor pumps were being used to remove water stagnation in low-lying areas.
The National Disaster Response Force personnel are on standby, officials said. The Tamil Nadu government put out a list of helpline numbers in case of any flood-related emergencies.
The Greater Chennai Traffic Police Saturday in a tweet announced that vehicular movement along the East Coast Road (ECR) resumed at 6 am. The stretch had been closed since 10 pm last night, due to the cyclone.
Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday said that all precautionary measures have been taken. "The government has taken all the precautionary measures and the officers are regularly monitoring the situation," said Stalin.
Stalin urged the people to follow the orders of the government and cooperate.
The Dindigul Collector declared a holiday on Saturday for schools and colleges in Sirumalai and Kodaikanal.
Heavy rains with strong winds were experienced in Puducherry on Friday. Red alerts were sounded in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh. Doppler Weather Radar Karaikal and Chennai are monitoring the cyclone.
( With inputs from ANI )
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