Cyclone Ditwah claims three lives, drenches TN

CHENNAI: Cyclone Ditwah left three dead in Tamil Nadu and inflicted far deeper tragedy in Sri Lanka, where the toll soared beyond 330 and thousands were pushed from their homes, while Chennai was spared the forecast pounding after the storm’s core collapsed and veered away from the shoreline.TN revenue minister KKSSR Ramachandran said Sunday that two died in wall collapses in Tuticorin and Thanjavur, and one from electrocution in Mayiladuthurai.

The storm’s sudden weakening kept Chennai largely untouched, reducing a feared onslaught to brief drizzle and chilly winds. Streets filled up by noon as sunlight returned, but large swaths of TN, Andhra Pradesh, and Sri Lanka reeled from the storm’s force.Ramachandran said 234 huts and houses had been damaged and 149 cattle killed in TN. Crop loss stretched across 56,000 hectares, including 24,000 acres in Nagapattinam, 15,000 acres in Tiruvarur and 8,000 acres in Thanjavur. “Once water recedes, the extent of damage will be ascertained,” he said.Farmers’ associations in the Cauvery delta urged Union govt to classify the destruction as a national calamity.