CHENNAI, India: More than 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes Wednesday as a tropical storm hit southern India from the Bay of Bengal, officials said.
Rain lashed the region and strong winds uprooted trees in some places. Weather officials said the storm packed winds of up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour as it made landfall near Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.
A storm surge of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) was expected to flood low-lying areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states, the India Meteorological Department said.
It said it expected heavy to very heavy rainfall over parts of the states during the next 24 hours. Fishermen were asked to stay at shore until Thursday.
State authorities turned 282 schools into relief centers in Chennai. The city’s port halted cargo operations, but berthing of ships was continuing, the Press Trust of India news agency said. Twenty-three ships were moved to safer areas.
About 150,000 people were moved to shelters in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh state, district official B. Sridhar said.
In Sri Lanka, authorities said two people were killed and thousands displaced due to heavy rain and strong winds from the storm.
Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center said 4,627 people across the island nation had been displaced because of flooding, while 56 were evacuated in the central region due to threats of landslides. One woman died Tuesday after a tree branch fell on her, while another person was killed in flooding, the agency said. Floods have also damaged about 1,000 houses, it said.
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Associated Press writer Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.
Tens of thousands flee as storm hits south India
Tens of thousands flee as storm hits south India
Greta Thunberg released from custody after arrest at UK pro-Palestinian protest
- UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act
- City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March
LONDON: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was released from custody after being arrested on Tuesday in London at a pro-Palestinian protest, police said.
UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.” The British government has proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group.
City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March.
Police said earlier two other people had been arrested for throwing red paint at a building. A spokesperson said 22-year-old woman later attended the scene and was arrested for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organization.
Prisoners for Palestine, which supports some detained activists who have gone on hunger strike, said the building had been targeted because it was used by an insurance firm which they said provided services to the British arm of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.
The insurance company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thunberg, 22, became prominent after staging weekly climate protests in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018.
Last year, she was cleared of a public order offense in Britain as a judge ruled police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London the year before.
She was detained along with 478 people and expelled by Israel in October after joining an activist convoy of vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla, that attempted to reach Gaza with aid supplies. Israel has consistently denied genocide allegations.
