Two men walk along a beach as Cyclone Burevi is expected to near the coast of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. File/Reuters

Gulf Today Report

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that a cyclone that brought heavy rain to parts of southern India and neighbouring Sri Lanka has weakened into a deep depression.

It is inching closer to the Tamil Nadu and Kerala coast on 4 December. Deep depression is a stage of cyclone formation or de-intensification, India’s weather office said on Friday.

It was not immediately clear how much damage the rains caused in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which had declared a government holiday in some areas and urged people to stay at home ahead of the cyclone.

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Southern Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala are on high alert as the weather bureau had earlier predicted that Burevi would hit the southern shores as a cyclonic storm.

“(A) deep depression over Gulf of Mannar...is close to Ramanathapuram district coast, remained practically stationary,” the Indian meteorological department said in a statement, referring to the state’s southeast.

A cyclone that lashed Tamil Nadu last week killed 23, uprooting trees and cutting power and communication links.