At least 13 people have been killed after Cyclone Michaung made landfall in India on Tuesday.
A four-year-old boy was killed after the wall of his house in Tiruptai district collapsed in India’s Andhra Pradesh coast with high winds and heavy rainfall across the region.
Coastal areas of Tamil Nadu were affected by heavy rain. State capital Chennai was one of the worst hit areas, with at least 12 people killed in rain-related incidents.
Two people were electrocuted and another was killed by a falling tree, police said.
Residents were seen wading through waist-deep murky floodwaters, which swept away cars and submerged a runway. City police used rafts to distribute food packets in low-lying areas.
The storm affected transport across the country with 50 flights and 100 train services cancelled.
The storm, named by Myanmar, formed over the Bay of Bengal and made landfall at Bapatla with a wind speed of about 100kmph, India's Meteorological Department said.
“It lay over south coastal Andhra Pradesh about 15km south-west of Bapatla and 40km north-east. It is likely to move nearly northwards and weaken into a Cyclonic Storm during the next 2 hours,” the India Meteorological Department said.
Heavy rains pounded coastal areas, with more than 200mm of rain forecast over the next 24 hours.
About 9,500 people were evacuated from the seven districts of Konaseema, Kakinada, Krishna, Bapatla and Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh to safety in 211 relief camps, according to the state disaster management authority
Emergency workers, including volunteers from the state and national disaster forces, have been sent to help people in vulnerable coastal communities. Authorities have set up more than 300 relief camps.
The state has a 974km-long coastline and more than 3.3 million people live within 5km of the sea.
The storm triggered heavy rainfall in the states on Monday, with roads, airports and train stations flooded and vehicles swept away. Strong winds uprooted trees and electric poles.
Taiwan's Foxconn and Pegatron halted Apple iPhone production at their complexes near Chennai due to heavy rains, local media reported.
The state government shut down schools and education institutions, government offices, banks and financial institutions and issued an advisory asking people to work from home and to stock up on critical items such as water, food and medicines.
