The India Meteorological Department has issued a forecast of heavy rain in Tamil Nadu over the weekend until October 8. A red alert has been issued until October 7, warning those living near coastal areas to prepare in case of an emergency evacuation.

Addressing the media on Friday, state Revenue Minister RB Udayakumar stated that precautionary measures were being taken in the state in view of the impending rains.

District collectors throughout the state have been asked to monitor the situation with utmost scrutiny, and to keep tabs on fishermen and warn them against going out to sea over the next few days. He also asked for all district collectors in areas near the sea to take immediate action to ensure that people were safe during the heavy rains.

It was also reported that NDRF teams have been dispatched to Madurai, Coimbatore, Ooty, and Kanyakumari in case people needed to be evacuated from these areas.

S Balachandran, director of the Area Cyclone Warning Centre had stated to media on Thursday that, “a low pressure area is set to form over South East Arabian Sea on Friday, October 5. It is likely to intensify as a depression and will likely turn into a cyclone over 36 hours and move towards Oman. Chennai and its suburbs will experience intermittent rainfall. For now, very heavy rainfall is predicted in a few places.”

The IMD’s map shows that the entire state has been placed under the red alert category until Sunday. The IMD’s All India Weather Warning Bulletin has also stated that heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy falls is likely at isolated places over Tamil Nadu on Sunday.