At least 7 people were killed and more than 270 others are missing as heavy rains hit coastal Tamil Nadu, India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday and Thursday, November 29 and 30, 2017, after a depression in the Bay of Bengal intensified into a Cyclonic Storm “Ockhi.” Ockhi is the third named storm of the 2017 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Heavy rain is expected across the region at least until Saturday, December 2. The system is expected to further intensify into a Severe Cyclonic Storm as it moves toward Lakshadweep archipelago. On November 20, the remnant energy of Tropical Storm
“Kirogi,” which hit southern Vietnam on November 19, led to the formation of a new low-pressure area over the Gulf of Thailand. During the next several days, the system moved into the Bay of Bengal and slowly drifted westward, but was unable to organize significantly due to unfavorable conditions. On November 29, the storm organized into a depression just off the southeast coast of Sri Lanka, and the IMD gave it identifier BOB 07. READ MORE
