Cyclone Vardah: Over 2000 tourists rescued from Havelock and Neil Islands

Over 2000 tourists rescued from Havelock and Neil Islands

 

Heavy to very heavy rains had been wreaking havoc over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the last few days. These weather conditions are attributed to the severe cyclone Vardah which has been brewing in the southeast Bay of Bengal for quite some time.

There were quite a few hundreds of tourists stranded in both the Havelock and Neil Islands for the past two days. However, they were not able to be rescued due to heavy rains and rough sea conditions.

The authorities had taken the help of both the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Forces. Several ships had reached the islands but were unable to dock due to bad weather. However, now weather conditions have improved and at least 2168 tourists have been rescued from both the Havelock and the Neil Islands and currently no one is stranded.

UPDATE-Total 2168 tourists rescued. No 1 left stranded.Evacuation from Andaman&Nicobar Islands completed-Nat'l Disaster Management Authority

— ANI (@ANI_news) December 10, 2016

The rescue operation was carried out on Friday morning using six Indian Navy ships, three Coast Guard vessels, along with three Indian Air Force MI-17 V5 choppers braving severe weather conditions. Now, weather conditions have drastically improved and rainfall intensity has also reduced.

Cyclone Vardah: 150 tourists rescued as weather conditions improves marginally

 

 With Cyclone Vardah moving away in northwest direction, weather conditions over Andaman and Nicobar Islands have started improving gradually. However, sea conditions continued to be rough. With this, Navy and Air Force have stepped up the rescue operations. Till now, 150 people have been rescued. Around 1400 tourists were stranded at Havelock and Neil Islands in wake of inclement weather conditions for the last three days. Rough sea conditions and incessant heavy rains had been failing the rescue attempts made by the state forces. At present, Cyclone Vardah is presently around 250 km west-northwest of Port Blair. The system is now moving closer to Andhra Pradesh coast. With this, rains will now reduce over Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while light rains will commence over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Squally winds are still blowing over the regions and fishermen, locals and tourists are advised to stay away from the coastline.

Back in December of 1976 Andaman and Nicobar Islands received its maximum rainfall of 374.4mm in 24 hours. And by looking at the past records during this time of the year, such heavy rainfall is a norm for the Islands. In the last 24 hours, Port Blair received extremely heavy rainfall of 212 mm which has caused waterlogging in many low lying areas. MUST WATCH: Cyclone Vardah build up in five seconds Also Read: Tourists advised to avoid Andaman as Cyclone Vardah likely to give heavy rain In the next 24 hours moderate to heavy rainfall is expected over Andaman and Nicobar Islands and on December 10 intensity will decrease but rainfall will continue.

Tourists are advised not to head towards Andaman and Nicobar Islands for at least 3-5 days as the situation will take time to ease out. As of now many areas in the islands are witnessing waterlogging and sea conditions are very rough, due to this the evacuation process has not started. Air and Sea travel has been affected adversely.

@SpokespersonMoD Ships standing by at PortBlair& Evacuations shall commence as weather improves. IN Keeping a close watch 2 provide all help

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) December 8, 2016

@SpokespersonMoD Ships standing by at PortBlair& Evacuations shall commence as weather improves. IN Keeping a close watch 2 provide all help — SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) December 8, 2016

Also Read: Season's third cyclonic storm Vardah forms in the Bay of Bengal

Sea conditions to remain rough for some more time around Andaman and Nicobar. #CycloneVardah

— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) December 8, 2016

#Andaman Islands: With evacuation hit, families of stranded tourists spend sleepless nights @manogyaloiwal https://t.co/pqXlWK3H38 pic.twitter.com/MuXaLh5VwK — India Today (@IndiaToday) December 8, 2016

Also Read: Deep Depression intensifies into Cyclonic Storm Vardah

It is worrying that tourists are stranded in #Andaman.Reassuring to know ships r ready for evacuation. Hope tourists will b safely evacuated

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) December 8, 2016

#Andaman and #Nicobar: Water logging in some parts of #PortBlair due to heavy rain; Schools to remain closed tomorrow.#AIRPics: Rakesh pic.twitter.com/mSyUQqSqFD — All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) December 7, 2016

Port Blair receives 76 mm in six hours, 1400 tourists stranded in Havelock

 

  Andaman rains have been wreaking havoc over the region for the past two days. In fact, the last 24 hours have been all the worse. So much so that hundreds of residents are stranded at the Havelock Islands. At present at least 1400 tourists remain stranded on the Islands. The Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has asked the tourists to stay indoors until the rescue team can go and evacuate them. At present, the weather conditions are inclement and the sea is rough which is why the sea has not been able to dock because of high sea waves. Heavy rains continue to lash the region with Port Blair receiving heavy to very heavy rains during the last six hours. So much so that the city has recorded 76 mm of rainfall between 8:30 am and 2:30 pm today. Now, rescue operation will only commence when the weather improves. As per weathermen, Andaman and Nicobar islands will continue to receive heavy rains during the next 24 hours as well.

Rough sea conditions hamper rescue operations in Havelock, Andaman

 

  Heavy rains continue to lash the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. While some areas have recorded very heavy rains, isolated pockets have also witnessed extremely heavy rainy spells during the last 24 hours. In a span of 24 hours from 8:30 am on Tuesday, Hut Bay recorded a whopping 166 mm of rainfall followed by 121 mm of rain in Port Blair. Other areas to receive heavy rains include Mayabunder 88 mm, and Long Island 37 mm. Heavy rains are still occurring over many parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. So much so that sea conditions continue to be rough. In fact, bad weather has also hampered the ongoing rescue operations. At least 800 tourists remain stranded on Havelock Island and as per the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), sea remains rough and four navy ships have reached Havelock.

#CycloneAlert:4 Navy ships reached #Havelock.Unable 2 dock due 2 high seawaves.Approx.800 tourists stranded.To b evacuated once sea calms pic.twitter.com/ttccGj8XkD

— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) December 7, 2016

However, they are unable to dock due to high sea waves and inclement weather. The stranded tourists will only be evacuated once the sea calms down.