CHENNAI: What threatened to be a cyclonic storm that at one stage or another threatened the entire Tamil Nadu coast, finally weakened and crossed the coast neither in the north, nor the south. It opted for a compromise and went for Nagapattinam district, which has already faced nature's fury on several occasions in the past 12 months. Fortunately for the coastal town, it turned out to be a deep depression and brought moderate rain. Only the wind speed was high when it actually crossed the coast just after 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The course

The U.S. Typhoon Centre had initially projected the storm's course towards northern Sri Lanka and southern Tamil Nadu. It has been on the weather maps and satellite images for at least a week now. When the India Meteorological Department (IMD) picked it up, it had predicted a more west north-westerly course for the cyclonic storm. As it drew closer to the coast, the IMD saw it heading for the north Tamil Nadu coast, somewhere between Nagapattinam and Chennai.

A couple of days ago, heavy rains were reported from northern Sri Lanka, but the storm gradually moved to coastal Tamil Nadu. From then on, there was little deviation. `Fanoos,' as the storm was christened, moved almost in a straight line and went south of Nagapattinam, crossing the coast near Vedaranyam. At least during the past 24 hours, the IMD was on the dot.

Whatever the forecast, the State administration and the people along the coast were greatly relieved that the storm not only weakened, but the rainfall was also on the moderate side. The damage to the crops in the delta districts is what is causing concern to the authorities and the farmers alike. By afternoon, many of those who had moved to the shelters, decided to return to their homes. The Collectors have opted to keep the temporary shelters open for another day.

Though the delta districts of Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Madurai and the neighbouring districts felt the impact, there was relief that Karaikal, Cuddalore and Chennai were spared of the agony.

Officials were hoping that this would be the last of the systems for the season, so that they complete the "final assessment of damages," and begin rehabilitation and reconstruction works as soon as possible.

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