Very severe cyclone Vardah that made landfall in Chennai and northern coastal districts of Tamil Nadu put normal life in distress for over eight hours on Monday. The cyclone, the most intense to have hit the Tamil Nadu capital in two decades, uprooted over 3,000 trees in Chennai city alone, claimed four lives in the state, and left hundreds homeless along the coastline of northern Tamil Nadu and southern coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh. The state government has announced a solatium of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of the kin of those killed in Vardah-related incidents.
With hundreds of trees uprooted along the major roads, police and district administration were busy till late on Monday to clear major routes connecting Chennai. Villupuram, south of Chennai, was another pocket that reported massive impact with dozens of houses damaged.
