Cyclone Vardah hit Chennai on Monday with heavy rains pounding the city and high velocity winds uprooting trees and building panels. The cyclonic storm is expected to take about four hours to cross land completely.
The Tamil Nadu government had declared a holiday for educational institutions in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, besides coastal taluks of Villupuram.
Rail and flight services were affected, with around 25 incoming flights, including those from international destinations, being diverted to the nearby Hyderabad and Bangalore airports.
Residents of the state and its capital Chennai posted videos of the strong winds and rains in the state as the cyclone hit. Here are some of them:
A video of the rooftop of the Perungudi railway station. Sent by Michael Bharath. Cyclone #Vardah pic.twitter.com/B9JoXg7E3L
— TheNewsMinute (@thenewsminute) December 12, 2016
Panels are breaking and flying off buildings. Be careful #vardah @ndtv #cyclonevardah #chennairains #Chennai pic.twitter.com/8bmYES7W1D
— Kaustuv Dasgupta (@kaustuvdasgupta) December 12, 2016
#Vardah #Vardahcyclone very forceful @madipakkam @ChennaiRains @chennaiweather pic.twitter.com/Yc1glsdl4x
— parveen sultana (@par_cutie) December 12, 2016
Cars are going crazy… Imagine people coming outside #Vardah #Vardahcyclone #Semmancheri @PTTVOnlineNews @dinakaran_web @news7tamil pic.twitter.com/l3ke99vNL0
— NARAYANAN (@narayanansekar) December 12, 2016