A deep depression which occurred along the coast of Bay of Bengal got centred 150 kms away around Pondicherry and Cuddalore from 8th November 2015 onwards. It got intensified and crossed Pondicherry coast on 9th and due to that heavy rain poured down in coastal and inland locations. The deep depression caused not  only continued heavy rain and high wind with a speed up to 90kms per hour  uprooted the trees and as well created damage to mud walled and thatched houses of the poor, agricultural lands with crops such as paddy, plantain, cashews, pulses, groundnut etc.  marooned in flood waters, cattle and goats washed away, got affected and died.
Continuous down pour and heavy wind disrupted the electricity and in most of the affected locations, electrical poles either got damaged or fallen down. Almost all the Cuddalore district villages are experiencing electricity failure from 8th onwards and it could not be restored till date. Hence, people are stranded   due to water logging, electricity and communication failure.

PMSSS, as authorised agency of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) received continuous information on weather conditions and disseminated information to the villages to follow up the situations of the depression. However, the continuous down pour with heavy cyclonic sort of wind for almost 24 hours caused hectic and unexpected heavy damage to the living communities all around the Cuddalore district region and specifically for the families living  in the low lying areas along the river and lake beds.

PMSSS receiving emergency calls and disaster information from different Parishes and village centres from Cuddalore, Pondicherry and Villupuram districts  through the Parish Priests and village community leaders, affected people  about the damage caused in different areas.

The preliminary information we got in few areas and in specific areas of Neyveli, Cuddalore, kurinjipadi, Nellikuppam, Vadalur, koonankurichi, Virudachalam, Veerareddikuppam, Vazhuthalampattu, Rita Nagar, Alagappasamuthiram,Kalkunam, Panruti, Periyapattu, Sathampadi, Siluvaipalayam,Kattumanarkovil, Bahoor, Thavalakuppam, Periyanarimedu,Chinnanarimedu, Sanniyasipet, Chitrasure, Palur, Panapakam, Maligaimedu,Narimedu, Madanagopalapurm, MariyaNarimedu, Sathipet, Thurinjicollai, Periyakattupalayam, Visur, Nadukattupalayam,Kandaravakotai, Akkadavali, Oriyaur, Aviyalur, Melvishi, kunniyur, rizhivandiam, irudayapuram, kovilanur, RC Kanniyankupam, Kopavashankudi, Konankuppamparur, Anaikaraikottalam, Fathimapalayam, Thangolikuppam, Vairankuppam, Bothampadi, Rani colony, Kondianallur, Anniyarsipet, Chinnanellikollaifound to be worst affected and more than 600 houses got totally and partially damaged as per the information so far. It is expected more number of houses are in damaged condition which will be known after the flood recedes.

Neyveli, Kurinjipadi and Vadalur areas are found to be drastically affected with heavy water logging,  trees fallen down all around and people in low lying areas and families living along the river and lake beds have been evacuated to safer places. One village in Kalkunam is totally washed away due to water flowing down from the damage lake nearby and 50 poorest of the poor family coolie workers have been evacuated.

The Executive Director of PMSSS and his team of Staff immediately responded to the disaster situation and reached to the affected village locations as far as possible and tried to assess the damage caused and help the people in distress.

• District region is flooded to the core
• Interior village locations are marooned in water
• Thatched houses totally and partially damaged
• Mud walled and low profile houses totally and partially damaged
• Rain water logged in low lying areas
• No electricity
• No food
• No  drinking water supply
• Poisonous insects moving around and biting the people
• Families evacuated to different locations
• Areas and people prone to health hazards
• Children lost education materials
• Clothing and household utensils washed away
• Agriculture crops marooned and totally spoiled in the rain water
• No work
• No income resource
• People are stranded
• Inland areas not reachable

We may receive more information on the damage caused once the communication network got restored.