A man tries to hold an umbrella amidst gusty winds during heavy rains as Cyclone Michaug is expected to make landfall on the eastern Indian coast, in Chennai, India, 04 December 2023. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for heavy rains in Chennai as the cyclonic storm, 'Cyclone Michaung' is anticipated to make landfall between Andhra Pradesh's Nellore and Machilipatnam on December 05. EPA-EFE/IDREES MOHAMMED The cyclone made landfall on the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh near the town of Bapatla, the weather office said, barrelling in with winds of up to 110 kph (70 mph).
"The landfall process is continuing and is expected to complete during the next three hours," the Indian Meteorological Department said on social media platform X.
Parts of the state are expected to be pelted with more than 200 mm (8 inches) of rain over the next 24 hours, the weather office said earlier, and at least 8,000 people have been evacuated.
A 4-year-old boy died in Tirupati district after a wall fell, C. Nagaraju, executive director of the state's disaster management authority said, while eight people were killed in neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, officials said.
In Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai, a major electronics and manufacturing hub, residents were seen wading waist-deep through the murky floodwaters, which swept away cars and submerged a runway, triggering the shutdown of one of India's busiest airports until Tuesday morning.
The rains have stopped and water has receded at Chennai airport, and the airfield was operational from 9 a.m. local time, a spokesperson for the federal civil aviation ministry said.
The rains and winds also snapped power lines and uprooted trees, officials said, and more than 140 trains and 40 flights were cancelled in Andhra Pradesh.
Taiwan's Foxconn 2317.TW and Pegatron 4938.TW halted Apple AAPL.O iPhone production at their facilities near Chennai due to heavy rains, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
In December 2015, floods in Tamil Nadu killed at least 290 people and caused widespread damage.
(Reporting by Jatindra Dash and Rishika Sadam; Additional reporting by Aditi Shah, Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Miral Fahmy, Jacqueline Wong and Bernadette Baum)