Cyclone Gaja LIVE updates: 16 dead in Tamil Nadu; CM Palaniswami announces Rs 10 lakh to victims' families

Heavy rains lashed Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Thanjavur as Cyclone Gaja reached the Tamil Nadu coast on Friday. The cyclone made landfall early Friday morning between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam.

School and colleges were declared closed in Theni, Coimbatore and Virudunagar.  

Through the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, 11 people died due to cyclone-related incidents. He said that Rs 10 lakhs will go to the grieving families, Rs 1 lakh to those seriously injured and Rs 10,000 to those with minor injuries.  

Here are the helpline numbers:

Nagapattinam - 9443500728, 9843810579, 9003322566

Cuddalore - 04142-220700

Tiruvarur - 04366-226623

Pudukottai - 04322-222207

Thanjavur - 04362-230121

Ramanathapuram - 04567-230060

The Kerala chief minister said that districts on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border likely to receive rainfall. 

He tweeted. "GAJA Cyclonic Storm is likely to cause downpour in most districts in the State. The districts of Malappuram, Kollam and in between districts are likely to experience strong winds with speed reaching 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph."

Vijayan also posted a public alert on his Facebook page. 

Vellore, Salem, Villupuram, Thiruvannamalai, Madurai, and Theni districts of Tamil Nadu. to receive heavy rainfall for the next three hours predicts Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA). 

16 people have been killed due to the havoc wreaked by Cyclone Gaja in Tamil Nadu's seven districts. 

Over 100 power stations went down due to cyclone Gaja in the seven districts. 

Rajnath Singh tweeted, "Spoke to CM Shri E. K. Palaniswami regarding the situation in the cyclone-affected areas of Tamil Nadu. Assured all possible assistance from the Centre in mitigating the situation arising due to cyclone. Asked the HS to monitor the situation & provide all help to the state admin(sic)." 

Rajnath also directed Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to monitor the situation.

Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami has said that at least 11 people have been killed in cyclone-related incidents. He added that the state government will provide Rs 10 lakh to the victim's families. 

The chief minister is currently in Salem, reports The Hindu. 

Nagapattinam - 9443500728, 9843810579, 9003322566

Cuddalore - 04142-220700

Tiruvarur - 04366-226623

Pudukottai - 04322-222207

Thanjavur - 04362-230121

Ramanathapuram - 04567-230060

The National Disaster Response Force team helped clear the trees uprooted on Thursday night in Nagapattinam. 

"Cuddalore district has been moderately affected. Due to the moderate rainfall and winds, there are many instances of trees falling down. Since administration was on alert nothing major has happened," Gagandeep Singh Bedi, in-charge for Disaster Management Officer told ANI. 

Ahead of Cyclone Gaja making landfall, rains and the strong winds uprooted numerous trees in Nagapattinam causing damage to properties in the seaside district of Tamil Nadu. 

At 5:50 am on Friday, Nagapattinam, Karaikkal and Puducherry received 5 cm of rainfall while Cuddalore received 8 cm of rainfall.

Three people died due to cyclone-related incidents in Cuddalore. One of them died due to a tree falling down, while another died when a wall collapsed. The third person died of electrocution. 

The rescue and relief operations had evacuated 76,290 people from low-lying areas of six districts - Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, and Thiruvarur, Cuddalore and Trichy, reports The Hindu. 

The TN government declared holidays for schools and colleges in Theni, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, and Virudunagar on Friday while holiday was declared in all educational institutions in Nagapattinam on Thursday. 

The Met department on Friday said that the severe cyclonic storm is most likely to weaken into a cyclonic storm in six hours. 

The IMD also stated that the cyclone is moving westwards. "Though center of cyclone lies over land, rear sector of eye wall is still over sea. It will take about an hour to move over land."