Cyclone Vardah Pictures: Chennai Devastated By Heavy Rains, At Least 10 Dead, Reports Say [PHOTOS]

Cyclone Vardah made landfall in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Monday, hitting the city of Chennai in the afternoon. It uprooted trees, damaged property and killed at least 10 people in the state, local media reported.

The weather system, which was first noticed last week, grew into a “very severe cyclonic storm,” hitting the coast with wind speeds of up to 75 miles an hour, Indian daily the Hindu reported. The winds tore off hoardings, toppled cars, and caused considerable damage to a premier hotel property in Chennai. The neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh saw an oil tanker tipping over on the highway as a result of the cyclone.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who took office only a week ago, announced a solatium of 400,000 rupess (about $6,000) each to the families of those killed in the cyclone. Pannerselvam said over 10,000 people were evacuated from coastal areas, while more that 9,000 people were moved to relief camps in Andhra Pradesh. Flight operations were suspended at the Chennai airport on Monday but resumed early Tuesday. Suburban train services also remained suspended Monday, news network NDTV reported.

The government declared Tuesday a holiday for educational institutions in three districts. An official notification read: “All government, government-aided, private schools, colleges and other educational institutions in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts will remain closed on December 13.”

As a precautionary measure, the state also suspended power supply Monday as Vardah, derived from the Urdu word meaning red rose, toppled numerous electricity poles, causing power cuts in some areas. The supply was reportedly restored in some parts of the affected areas but many areas still remained without power early Tuesday.

Here are some pictures of the impact of the cyclone after it hit the southern states of the South Asian country: