Funds Sent To:
- Lutheran World Service- India (LWSI)
- United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI)
Amount Sent:
- US$ 20,370 (LWSI)
- US$ 20,087 (UELCI)
- (Total requested: US$40,457)
Date: 3 December 2008
Details of Response
Emergency: Cyclone Nisha - floods in Tamil Nadu, India
Date of Emergency: 26-29 November 2008
Implementing Member(s): LWSI and UELCI
DETAILS OF THE EMERGENCY:
Since 26 November, while the world's attention has been fixed on the bombings in Mumbai, Tamil Nadu state in southern India has been battered by cyclonic storm 'Nisha', bringing further flooding and suffering to people in the coastal areas. The progress of the storm has affected ten districts with heavy rainfall and strong winds reaching 75 km/h. ACT members on the ground report that the districts of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Chidambaram are the worst affected by the cyclone and heavy rainfall. Crops and property have been hit hard and approximately 180 lives have been lost in the state. Lutheran World Service (LWSI) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of India (UELCI) report flash floods in a number of places, damage to irrigation canals and water tanks, and disruptions to communications and public transport.
Official figures report 2,426 villages and 800,000 people affected, with 4,400 huts destroyed and 273 cattle having perished, though UELCI considers these figures to be under-estimated. The Lutheran World Service (LWS India) team, already operational in the districts of Cuddalore and Nagapattinum, report that people in vulnerable areas are suffering from water logging in their improvised mud and thatch shelters. This includes most of their project areas for on-going disaster risk reduction programmes supported by ACT appeal ASIN82.
Some people are moving to nearby schools and other public buildings to take shelter. Inundated areas have been cut off from the national highway. Standing crops, mainly paddy and sugarcane on two million hectares of land, have been submerged in Cuddalore district. Power supplies, telecommunications and public transportation have been disrupted in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts of Tamil Nadu. Seawater entered many houses situated near the coast. Urban areas of Chidambaram, Cuddalore and Sirbali are also flooded creating hazards there.