Storm Weakens as it Hits India's Tamil Nadu Coast
Date: 12-Dec-05
Country: INDIA
Authorities in southern India are already dealing with damage from last weekend's torrential rain and floods, which killed around two dozen people.
On Saturday, several coastal districts in Tamil Nadu were facing winds of 40-50 kph (16-19 mph) and heavy downpours.
Thousands of people in the state have moved to concrete shelters stocked up with food, milk and other essential supplies but officials said they expected the weakened storm to further dissipate over land.
"We are sending them all home after supper (dinner)," said J. Radhakrishnan, collector of Nagapattinam town, 350 km (217 miles) south of Chennai, the state capital.
Hundreds of people died in Nagapattinam town when last year's tsunami slammed the Tamil Nadu coast.
Last month, 79 passengers were killed in Tamil Nadu after floods swept away two buses during one of a string of storms to hit the state and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh since July.
In October, 114 people were killed when a passenger train skidded off the tracks in Andhra Pradesh as it approached a bridge whose pillars had been partly washed away.
(Additional reporting by S. Radha Kumar in HYDERABAD)
