Cyclone Montha: Tiruvallur district braces for heavy rain; holiday for schools

Chennai: With cyclonic storm 'Montha' moving towards Andhra Pradesh, in Tamil Nadu, all eyes are on Tiruvallur district, which is expected to receive heavy rainfall on Tuesday.

According to Tiruvallur District Disaster Management, in the last 24 hours, till 6 am on Tuesday, Ponneri and Avadi in Tiruvallur received 72 mm and 62 mm of rainfall respectively.

Tiruvallur District Collector M Prathap declared a holiday for schools on Tuesday, anticipating heavy rains.

According to Chennai-based Regional Meteorology Centre's (RMC) latest bulletin, isolated places over Chengalpattu, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Tirupattur, Villupuram, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari districts will likely see moderate rain with light thunderstorm and lightning.

The RMC warned fishermen against venturing into the sea till October 29. Due to Cyclone Montha in the Bay of Bengal, surface winds are expected to reach speeds of 90 to 100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph, the bulletin said.

Montha means a fragrant flower in Thai language.

As RMC expects traffic to be affected in some areas due to the rains, Deputy Chief Minister Udhyanidhi Stalin, paid a surprise visit to the Command and Control Centre functioning at the Chennai Metropolitan Corporation office early Tuesday.

He checked how the flow of traffic in various parts of the city, particularly in areas prone to traffic snarls, is being managed.

In Chennai, schools were declared holiday on Tuesday due to rain.