Mandous, which began as a “Severe Cyclonic Storm”, weakened as it approached the coast of Tamil Nadu near Chennai. It had weakened into a deep depression and lay 70 km North-West of Mamallapuram and 50 km West of Chennai.
Cyclone Mandous made landfall off the coast of Mamallapuram on Friday (9 December 2022), causing heavy rain and strong winds in several parts of Chennai. But it wasn’t as severe as Vardah or Thane cyclones.
The Tamil Nadu government officials have stated that there was no “large-scale damage” in the state.
However, the DMK IT Wing, a section of Tamil journalists and other Dravidian Stockists have attempted to portray cyclone Mandous as disastrous as the 2015 Chennai flood, and it was only due to the efforts of DMK Chief Minister MK Stalin that Tamil Nadu was spared.
TRB Rajaa, son of DMK MP TR Baalu and head of the party’s IT Wing collected all the congratulatory tweets in praise of MK Stalin and said “Mandous will be remembered as the first cyclone to pass through Chennai and leave no trace!!! People from all walks of life had nothing but positive things to say about the Hon’ble DMK CM MK Stalin.’
#Mandous will forever be known as the first #Cyclone which left next to no trace while passing by #Chennai !!!
People from every walk of life had only nice things to say about the Hon'ble @CMOTamilnadu 's #DmkGovt & its work behind the resurgence of @chennaicorp !#ChennaiRains🌄 pic.twitter.com/tIQUfpJK5j— Dr. T R B Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) December 10, 2022
Similarly, DMK IT wing deputy secretary Isai gathered other congratulatory tweets (missed by TRB Rajaa) praising CM MK Stalin and said, “Metropolitan like Chennai always have a kind of fear and allergy when it comes to rain. Tamil Nadu people feared rain because of the unruly growing structure and complacency of incompetent rulers( referred to ADMK). However, MK Stalin has changed that thinking! The rain is sweet”
சென்னை போன்ற பெருநகரங்களுக்கு மழை என்றாலே ஒருவித பயமும் ஒவ்வாமையும் எப்போதும் உண்டு. கட்டுக்கடங்காமல் வளர்ந்து நிற்கும் கட்டமைப்பு + திறமையற்ற ஆட்சியாளர்களின் மெத்தனம் = மழை/புயல் என்றாலே மக்கள் அஞ்சினர்!
அந்த எண்ணவோட்டத்தை மாற்றியிருக்கிறார் தலைவர்! மழை இனிது!! #CycloneMandous pic.twitter.com/4OgxX2Qup6— இசை (@isai_) December 10, 2022
Other journalists and Dravidian Stockists congratulated Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, saying they had never seen Chennai without waterlogging like this before during a cyclone.
Just reached Chennai, can’t believe there was a cyclone here just yesterday! Kudos to @chennaicorp @CMOTamilnadu ❤️
— Madan Gowri (@madan3) December 10, 2022
Roads are completely clear of rain water from Velachery to Valluvarkottam. Great Work @chennaicorp
— Mugilan Chandrakumar (@Mugilan__C) December 10, 2022
However, the data from Indian Meteorological Department shows that cyclone Mandous is one of the weakest cyclones Chennai has witnessed in recent years. The IMD bulletin issued on December 10, 2022, said “It is very likely to move nearly northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts around Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) as a cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph during next 2 hours. Thereafter, it would move west-northwestwards and gradually weaken into a Deep Depression by early morning and into a Depression by noon of 10th December.”
According to IMD data the sustained wind speeds of recent cyclones to cross the Tamil Nadu coast are Vardah (130 km/hr), Thane (140 km/hr) and Nilam (85 km/hr). The average wind speed during Mandous landfall was 65-70 km/hr.
According to the cyclone tracker image, cyclone Mandous had the highest windspeed of 100 kmph when it was about 300 kilometers away from Chennai, and it gradually decreased to 55 kmph as it approached Chennai.
The cyclone tracker image of Vardah (2016) shows that Vardah had the highest windspeed of 155 kmph when it was about 300 kilometers away from Chennai, and when it reached Chennai it had a windspeed of 135 kmph, causing widespread devastations.
As per the data, cyclone Mandous is the weakest cyclone to have crossed Chennai in recent years. However, the Dravidian stocks and Tamil media journalists have been on an overdrive to project as if the DMK government under MK Stalin had done a terrific job in containing the damages caused by cyclone when the damage itself was minimal compared to the other devastating cyclones.
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