Cyclone Gaja has claimed two lives and uprooted about 50 trees in Sivaganga district while leaving minimum damage in coastal Ramanathapuram.
After making landfall during the early hours of Friday near Nagapattinam, the cyclone brought incessant rains, accompanied by gusty winds in Sivaganga district and widespread rainfall in Ramanathapuram district.
“The cyclone has claimed two lives in Sivaganga district,” Collector J Jayakanthan said. “Muthu Murugan, 56 died in a wall collapse in Sivaganga taluk and Elizabeth Rani, a sanitary worker died at Nerkumbai, he said.
Following gusty winds, 40 to 50 trees were uprooted in different parts of the district, he said adding that the fallen trees were removed and traffic was restored in the affected areas. The district received steady rainfall for about five hours since 5 a.m. on Friday, he said.
Ramanathapuram district, which was put on high alert, received average rainfall of 29.5 mm after few spells of rains on Thursday night.
Senior IAS Officer Chandra Mohan, who was deputed as monitoring officer for the district, said there was no major damage in the district according to preliminary damage assessment.
Tree falls were reported in six places and were removed immediately, he said. Damage to some houses was reported and the extent was being assessed, he said. “There is no loss of life in the district”, he added.
Collector K Veera Raghava Rao said a total of 2,123 people were evacuated from vulnerable places and accommodated in 18 relief centres as part of the precautionary measures.