Cyclone Nilam Kills 12, Displaces Thousands

Cyclone Nilam Kills 12, Displaces Thousands

[Update: Three more fatalities were recorded by Andhra Pradesh state officials late Thursday, bringing the death toll in the state to four. The total death toll in southern India has risen to at least 12.] 

Cyclone Nilam, which hit India’s southeastern coast late Wednesday, forced thousands to flee their homes in the state of Tamil Nadu, and claimed at least 12 lives across southern India.

Though the tropical cyclone, which evoked fears of large-scale destruction, weakened as it traveled northwest, it caused “significant damage” to infrastructure, plantations and livestock along Tamil Nadu’s eastern coast, M. Jayaraman, a senior disaster management official, told India Real Time.

So far, the state has confirmed eight deaths, including four who were killed after a wall collapsed in the district of Vellore, and a crew member on an oil tanker that ran aground off Chennai’s coast.

Coast guards, says Mr. Jayaraman, are still tracing five missing crew members of “Pratibha Cauvery,” the oil tanker, who abandoned ship after the cyclone struck Chennai.

While no fatalities were reported in the city of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, where Nilam made landfall, over 3,880 coastal dwellers from nearby were brought to 17 relief centers inside the city, says Mr. Jayaraman.

Several trees in the city were uprooted, and some areas plunged into darkness after electric wires were damaged by the storm.

While Nilam considerably weakened on Thursday, with power restored across the city, rescue teams “are still on high alert,” says Mr. Jayaraman.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh, damage caused by the cyclone has been “minimal,” says Vinod Kumar Ekbote, a state disaster management official.

The state, which witnessed heavy rainfall over the last 12 hours, recorded four deaths, including of a 25-year-old, who was electrocuted after cables collapsed in the district of Nellore.

While further damage from the storm is unlikely, estimates Mr. Ekbote, coastal districts, including Nellore, Guntur and Krishana, are being “closely monitored.” So far, the state has not conducted any evacuations along the coast, he adds.

The cyclone, which approached the southeastern Indian coast at 100 kilometers an hour, has slowed according to the latest news release by India’s Metrological Department. It is, however, expected to cause heavy rainfall in the southwestern state of Karnataka as it progresses further.

Nilam is the third cyclone to hit India’s southern coast in recent years. In 2011, Cyclone Thane killed an estimated 35 people in Tamil Nadu, while in 2010, Cyclone Laila reportedly claimed nine lives in the state and at least 30 more in Andhra Pradesh.

The 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone, which killed at least 10,000 people and displaced millions, is estimated to be the worst cyclone to have hit Indian shores.

Here is a detailed break up on the death toll as per information provided by state officials, Thursday.

Tamil Nadu

Vellore (district) – four

Tiruvallur (district) – one

Villupuram (district) – one

Tiruvannamalai (district) – one

Chennai (city) – one

Andhra Pradesh

Nellore (district) – one

East Godavari (district) – one

Prakasam (district) – one

Anantapur (district) – one