Tamil Nadu’s Rare Tornado-Like Storm Leaves Trail of Damage in Thoothukudi

Thoothukudi: On Sunday evening, a violent, yet devastating storm hit the Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district, leading to massive devastation. The private theme park, several homes, power poles and a toll plaza were all wiped out. There are a number of videos of the event that have been shared on social media, with a column of dust and debris rising in the air in a massive rotating motion.

What was the location of the incident?

On Sunday evening, a tornado-like weather phenomenon hit parts of Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu,

This led people to refer to it as a 'tornado', although the meteorologists have stated that it was not a tornado, but was caused by strong winds due to a certain position of the clouds.

Where and how much damage was caused?

The village of Vagaikulam and Mudivaithanendal, situated around 20 kilometers from Thoothukudi city on the Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli highway, were the hardest hit areas of the villages, causing the villagers much hardship. Roofs were torn off almost 200 homes, trees were felled and power poles broken. Household items were blown away by the wind.

In addition, the storm wrecked the rides and other machines at a private theme park along the highway. Valuable equipment like glass, computers at a nearby toll plaza were also damaged. The damage caused the toll collection to be temporarily suspended and vehicles were free to pass.

The local residents estimated the overall losses of this storm to be Rs 50- Rs 60 million. But, though the storm was terrible, no one has lost their life, which is a relief. There were only minor injuries to two people.

What was the people's response?

Nine children were playing cricket in the field, also reported by the villagers at the time of the storm. The wind was so strong that the children were raised up. To protect themselves, all the children held each other tightly and sat on the ground, thus saving their lives.

What did the meteorologists say?

The Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) at Chennai called on people to refrain from using the term "tornado" for the weather phenomenon. Heavy clouds identified as ‘cumulonimbus' clouds over the southern Tamil Nadu were caused by the accumulation of air pressure at a height of approximately 3.1 kilometres, meteorologists said. These clouds quickly lifted the air from the ground.

This made dust and dirt from the Earth swirl up in the air, like a tornado. Scientists say that the monsoon in Thoothukudi doesn't have the meteorological conditions that are required to make a true tornado. This was only a local, transient, harsh wind.