The State government on Thursday finalised its preparations for handling a potential weather-related emergency even as the latest forecasts indicated that Cyclone Burevi would weaken into a depression by Friday morning.
Burevi had weakened into a deep depression by Thursday evening as it lay centred over the Gulf of Mannar. The weather system was expected to cross Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu through Thursday night and weaken further into a depression by Friday morning.
Wind speed
By then, wind speeds would decrease to 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph, the IMD Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, indicated in a Thursday evening update.
Wind speeds would further dip to 30 to 40 kmph by the time the weather system approaches Kerala, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the weather system was likely to enter Kerala along the regions bordering Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts as it raced towards the Arabian Sea.
The government was not expecting major flooding events, the Chief Minister said. Nonetheless, 2,891 relief camps have been opened in the seven southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam.
The IMD has put these districts on orange alert on Friday anticipating the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall.
Centre’s assuarance
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has promised all assistance to the State for tackling contingencies, Mr. Vijayan said.
The government has also declared a holiday for government offices, including public sector institutions, on Friday given the weather situation. The decision will not be applicable to disaster management and election personnel and essential services.
In addition to the police, fire and rescue services and other State government machineries, armed forces and paramilitary units and eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been mobilised or kept on stand-by for disaster management.
Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta on Thursday convened a high-level meeting attended by top State government officials and representatives of armed forces, Central armed police forces and the NDRF for assessing the situation.