Chennai Weather News Live Updates: Cyclone Mandous to bring heavy rains to Tamil Nadu; several flights cancelled in Chennai today – The Indian Express

Due to the heavy rain forecast, the Greater Chennai Police asked the public not to venture outside unless absolutely necessary. Starting from 6 PM today, till midnight the departure of at least five flights from here have been canceled, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) in Chennai announced. Trains including suburban services were operated and there was some disruption in bus services in view of water logging in a string of areas. Schools and colleges were closed in several districts. A recently built wooden ramp for the disabled at Chennai’s Marina beach was also damaged by intense waves. The 263-metre-long, 3-metre-wide ramp was constructed with a mix of several categories of wood, including Brazilian wood, at a cost of Rs 1.14 crore, according to officials.

Mandous, pronounced ‘man-dous’ is an Arabic word and it means treasure box and the name was reportedly picked by the United Arab Emirates. The cyclonic storm is very likely to move nearly northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Sriharikota near Mamallapuram as a cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph, during midnight and early hours of Saturday.