Cyclone Fengal: Toll rises to 28 after members of Indian family trapped in mudslide found dead

At least 12 people have died in Tamil Nadu state and another 16 in Sri Lanka

Volunteers rescue residents from a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Puducherry on December 2, after Cyclone Fengal hit Tamil Nadu. AFP

The death toll in Cyclone Fengal rose to 28 on Tuesday after seven bodies were recovered from the debris of a mudslide in India’s Tamil Nadu state. More than a dozen people have died in Sri Lanka.

Cyclone Fengal formed over the Bay of Bengal in the past week and made landfall on Saturday. It brought torrential rains and widespread destruction across southern India. Several villages have been cut off, and huts have been destroyed in floods.

Rajkumar, 30, his wife 24, their two young children, and three children of their relatives were buried under rocks after heavy rains triggered a mudslide in the foothills of Chidambaram Nagar, in the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Emergency workers searched the site for more than 12 hours and pulled out four bodies on Monday.

MK Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, said 12 people died in the state and more than 15 million people were affected. More than 2,400 huts were destroyed and over 200,000 hectares of agricultural and horticultural land has been inundated. About a thousand cattle were killed. Several roads and bridges were washed away. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to extend financial support of 20 billion rupees ($236 million).

Motorists move through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Cuddalore on December 2. AFP

Several parts of the state recorded heavy rains on Tuesday that caused flooding. All schools and educational institutions were closed as the National Disaster Response Force relief work continued. An additional 100,000 trained first responders were carrying out aid and restoration work.

In the territory of Puducherry, a former French colony, the army was called as it was deluged with 460 millimetres of rain, the heaviest rainfall in three decades, local government officials said. The India Meteorological Department, the federal weather agency, also issued alerts for substantial rain in neighbouring Kerala and Karnataka states.

The cyclone also affected Sri Lanka where 16 people were killed, with heavy rain displacing more than 130,000 families. About 470,000 people sought shelter in temporary relief camps, the Disaster Management Centre in Colombo said.

Cyclones are a regular feature in the Bay of Bengal and the northern Indian Ocean. Scientists warn that such storms are becoming more frequent and powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels. Cyclone Fengal formed in the wake of Dana, which hit India’s east coast in October. It is the fourth cyclonic storm to hit India this year.

India’s coastline on the Bay of Bengal – the largest bay in the world – is a hotbed of tropical cyclones and is prone to extreme climatic events. Eight of the 10 deadliest cyclones on record have originated over the bay in the past two decades, according to Weather Underground. However, recent advancements in weather forecasting and cyclone warning systems have helped authorities carry out mass evacuations before storms.