When the people in the region were yet to recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gaja in 2018 that took many lives, livestock and damaged properties, including coconut trees in several lakhs of acres and fishing boats along the coast, the announcement of Cyclone Nivar’s likely landfall at Nagapattinam created anxious days for the people. The respective district administrations too made elaborate arrangement as a precautionary measure.

WAfter the landfall anxious farmers rushed to their fields in the early hours of Thursday despite there was a mild shower to check on the situation. However, the impact of Cyclone Nivar was very minimal than what they feared and they heaved a great sigh of relief.

“I had 3,500 coconut trees earlier and Cyclone Gaja uprooted 2,100 trees and I was struggling to protest the remaining trees for these years. But, I was tensed almost for a week ever since the information about Cyclone Nivar came and now I feel free,” said Sundarajan from Peravurani in Thanjavur district.

Meanwhile, the fishermen from the coastal areas in Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Pudukkottai too had a tough time till Thursday. Though they had taken their boats and equipment to a safer place, they were relaxed only witnessing that there was no damage to their belongings.

There were a few trees uprooted in the districts like Ariyalur, Perambalur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur and they were removed. Power supply that was cut on the previous day, resumed in the morning. Bus services resumed from around 10 am.

Similarly, the agriculture department of the respective districts have been deployed to assess the crop damages and rectifying the water logging on paddy fields.