Cyclone Nivar, which has weakened from a "very severe cyclonic storm" to a "severe cyclonic storm", made landfall near the costal town of Marakkanam in Tamil Nadu, 30 km north of Puducherry at around 2:30 am. More than two lakh people have been evacuated to safety in the coastal states that had been bracing for the cyclone - the fifth-strongest category on India's scale of seven storm types. While the damage assessment is on, the state governments say they have been working on "war-footing" amid heavy rainfall and flooding in many parts.
