The Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has set up toll-free numbers 112 and 1077 to receive distress calls from the public. People can also seek help through the WhatsApp number 9488981070.

Heavy rains lashed India’s south and a major airport shut operations as cyclone Fengal made landfall late on Saturday.  Cyclones -- the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific -- are a regular and deadly menace in

Cyclonic storm Fengal has commenced making landfall close to Puducherry and it may approximately take 4 hours for it to cross the coast completely, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

Cyclone Fengal - pronounced 'Feinjal' - is likely to make landfall this evening between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram with a wind speed of 70-80 km per hour, gusting up to 90 kmph.