 "Cyclone Ditwah kills 56 in Sri Lanka, IMD issues red warning ahead of landfall on Sunday")
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday issued a red warning for coastal southern India as Cyclone Ditwah battered Sri Lanka and continued to move northwards. It is forecast to make landfall in India on Sunday.
Ditwah has killed at least 56 people in Sri Lanka, where nearly the entire country was on red alert on Friday, according to The New York Times.
In India, the IMD has forecast extremely heavy rainfall across coastal southern regions from Friday to Monday.
In a statement on Friday, the IMD said Ditwah is expected to make landfall in coastal areas of northern Tamil Nadu and adjoining Puducherry and southern Andhra Pradesh at around 5:30 am on Sunday.
“It is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards across the Sri Lanka coast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal and reach over southwest Bay of Bengal near north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by 0000 UTC [05:30 am] of 30 November,” the IMD said.
Heavy rainfall forecast for Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
The IMD has issued red warnings for coastal southern India and forecast extremely heavy rainfall from Friday to Monday.
Tamil Nadu is expected to receive heavy rainfall between November 28 and December 1, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall over coastal areas between November 28 and November 30.
In coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam and Rayalaseema, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely between November 29 and December 1.
Cyclone Ditwah is also expected to bring a gradual increase in wind speeds, according to B Amudha, Deputy Director General at the Regional Meteorological Centre, IMD.
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View All“Wind speeds may be 60–80 kilometres per hour (kmph), gusting to 90 kmph in areas along the storm’s path. For the next two days, strong surface winds of 40–50 kmph may prevail over coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal,” Amudha told The Times of India.
Cyclone Ditwah’s trail of destruction in Sri Lanka
Cyclone Ditwah has turned out to be Sri Lanka’s worst disaster since 2017, when flooding and landslides killed more than 200 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across the country.
In addition to 56 dead, 14 people have been injured and 21 remain missing.
Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre said Ditwah has affected at least 12,000 families so far, damaging over 600 homes and displacing more than 3,600 people, according to The Times.
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