CHENNAI: Even as it is expected to cross Tamil Nadu between Nagapattinam and Chennai early this morning, Cyclone Thane has been forecast to wreak havoc in Chennai on Friday with more rainfall, squally weather and rough winds.If Chennaiites had a tough time beating the rough winds and incessant drizzle on Thursday, Friday is only expected to be more menacing.On Thursday, Thane’s influence brought with it squally winds giving bike-riders a tough time, while the rains ensured that children — in the midst of school vacation — spent the day indoors.“Despite it being the holiday season, Marina beach looked so empty. It was very hard to manoeuvre the bike as the winds were very strong forcing the bike towards the waters,” said Sathish, a 23-yearold from Royapettah. For a change, city roads had no traffic snarls as fewer people ventured out in the inclement weather.High tides and swell waves, some measuring about three metres, were observed in many areas close to the city, with sea ingress observed in Annai Indira Gandhi Kuppam, Periya Kuppam and Chinna Kuppam in Thiruvotriyur, Nochikuppam and Pattinapakkam near the Marina and Odai Kuppam in Thiruvanmyur on Thursday afternoon.“Our offices closed early today as news broke that the cyclone was to cross the State earlier than forecast, and some parts of North Chennai had already experienced sea water ingress,” said Shravya, an employee of an IT major in Tambaram.Rainfall recorded on Thursday was not significantly high with Nungambakkam receiving 3 cm during the day and Meenambakkam, 2 cm. On Friday, after Thane crosses the State, Chennai is expected to receive more rains. Squally winds reaching up to 55-65 kilometres per hour have been forecast, while rough sea conditions will prevail.A directive was issued asking those living in huts near the coast to move to safer locations while fishing operations have been ordered suspended. Danger signal number 9 has been hoisted in the Chennai Port. As of 10 pm Thursday, the cyclone was located 130 km east of Puducherry and 130 km south-east of Chennai travelling at nearly 10 kilometres per hour.
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