Eight Dead and Over 8,000 Hit by Cyclone Nilam

Arun Sankar K./Associated PressIndian Coast Guard rescuing crew members of Pratibha Cauvery, a ship that ran aground due to strong winds off the Chennai coast.

CHENNAI-The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy are still searching for five missing sailors after an oil tanker ran aground in the waters near Elliots Beach in Chennai when Cyclone Nilam hit the Tamil Nadu coast on Wednesday.

The crew members of the Pratibha Cauvery had abandoned ship after they were stranded, but a lifeboat carrying 22 people capsized in the strong winds, resulting in a sailor's death. Fisherman rescued 16 of the sailors, and the coast guard sent out five helicopters and three boats to search for the remaining crew members.

On land, the cyclone, whose winds reached up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour when it made landfall on Wednesday evening, killed at least eight people and displacing 8,500 in Tamil Nadu, said M. Jayaraman, joint commissioner of revenue administration for the state government.

“We are in the process of making a full assessment of the damage,” he said. “But we know that eight people have died and a total of 8,556 people from coastal districts in Tamil Nadu were affected due to Nilam. There are also been damage to roads and many trees have been uprooted.”

The districts of Chennai, Thiruvalur, Thiruvannamalai and Villupuram each reported one death, and four people were killed in Vellore, he said.

India's meteorological department said Nilam could weaken, with less rain expected in the next 24 hours. “We will h ave an assessment ready later in the day since we are still gathering data from Kalapakkam,” said Y.E.A. Raj, deputy director general of meteorology in Chennai. According to Mr. Raj, wind speed touched 75 kilometers per hour in Chennai and 65 kilometers per hour at Kalpakkam, about 70 kilometers south of Chennai. .

The Kancheepuram district collector, L. Sitherasenan, said that the district had been hit badly and that 90 percent of the damage was along the East Coast Road stretch between Mahabalipuram and Kalpakkam.

A total of 198 electric poles were found damaged after Nilam hit, he said, but now about 100 have already been repaired and power has been restored in many places. “A large number of fisherfolk live along E.C.R., and 3,888 people were all evacuated last night. Most of them have now returned to their homes,” he said.

The district is the middle of surveying the damage from Cyclone Nilam, he said, adding that the district government would pay compensation for damage caused by Cylone Nilam: 250,000 rupees ($4,700) per death, 5,000 rupees for destroyed huts, 2,500 rupees for partly damaged huts and 20,000 rupees for dead cattle.  So far, he said, 118 huts were blown away and 26 were partly damaged. He also said that approximately 60 acres of agricultural land has been affected by Cyclone Nilam in the district.

Many parts of Chennai city that were plunged into darkness on Wednesday received power last night. However, power supply to the southern-suburb of Chennai was disrupted for 26 hours. The grid connectivity between Sriperumbudur and Taramani had tripped due to heavy winds, resulting in a major blackout in the south Chennai and southern-suburbs of the city.