Kerala braces for Cyclone Burevi, dry weather prevails in north

Authorities in Kerala on Wednesday opened over 2,000 relief camps and banned fishing along the coast for the next three days as they geared up to deal with cyclonic storm Burevi, which is expected to make landfall in the state by December 4.

A deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal has intensified into cyclonic storm Burevi. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it is likely to bring heavy rains and winds to the seven southern districts of Kerala from December 3 to 5.

In the north, the weather department forecast rain and snowfall in the high hills of Himachal Pradesh on December 4, 7 and 8.

The weather remained dry in Uttar Pradesh with shallow to moderate fog at isolated places.

Authorities in Kerala were on their toes on Wednesday as they opened 2,849 relief camps to accommodate people who will be evacuated from vulnerable areas, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already reached the state, he said.

Vijayan also spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who assured him of all possible help from the Centre.

"Experts have opined that Cyclone Burevi will reach Thiruvananthapuram by Friday. We have discussed matters related to the cyclone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he told reporters.

"We have explained the steps taken by the state government," he said.

Vijayan asked people not to worry and said his government has made all arrangements to face the situation.

He said 690 members of 175 families have already been shifted to 13 relief camps.

The chief minister said since heavy rain has been predicted in Pathanamthitta district, restrictions may be imposed on the Sabarimala pilgrimage, based on the weather conditions.

Vijayan asked the people of the state to cooperate with the health department which is already burdened with COVID-19 mitigation work.

The State Disaster Management Authority banned fishing along the Kerala coast till December 5.

The state government also asked people to avoid travel to high range areas in view of the heavy rain forecast.

The IMD has issued a red alert (over 20 cms of rain in 24 hours) for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts and orange alert (6 cm to 20 cm rain) for Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki districts on December 3.

The weather department has forecast rain and snowfall in the high hills of Himachal Pradesh on December 4, 7 and 8.

The weather in the state was dry on Wednesday and it will remain so in plains, low and mid-hills till Tuesday, Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 4 degrees Celsius, Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of 1.4 degrees Celsius, he said.

The mercury settled at a low of 3 degrees Celsius, 9.4 degrees Celsius and 9.9 degrees Celsius in Manali, Kufri and Dalhousie, respectively. Shimla recorded a minimum temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius.

Dry weather also prevailed over Uttar Pradesh, according to the Meteorological Department in Lucknow.

Shallow to moderate fog occurred at isolated places, the weather department said.

Basti recorded the highest maximum temperature in the state at 29 degrees Celsius, while Churk was the coldest at 6.6 degrees Celsius.

The weatherman has forecast dry weather and shallow to moderate fog at isolated places on Thursday.