Severe Cyclone Makes Landfall In India, Eight People Killed

(Bloomberg) -- Cyclone Michaung made landfall in southeast India on Tuesday, with heavy rains and floods killing at least eight people and forcing some plants including a Hyundai Motor Co. factory to halt operations.

The storm crossed the coast of Andhra Pradesh state near Bapatla, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90 to 100 kilometers (56-62 miles) an hour, gusting to 110 kilometers, according to the India Meteorological Department.

Eight people have died in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, according to a post from the Greater Chennai Police on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. Several people needed urgent medical help due to electric shocks and injuries because of falling trees, it said. 

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. shut operations at its Sriperumbudur plant due to cyclonic conditions in Chennai and some surrounding districts, according to a company spokesperson.

Operations were also suspended at Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp. plants in Tamil Nadu, the Press Trust of India reported. The companies, which are major suppliers of Apple Inc., didn't immediately respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.

South Asia is typically impacted by several deadly storms every year, but there are concerns that climate change has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather from cyclones to floods, heat waves and droughts. These events can cause billions of dollars of economic losses, including damage to crops, infrastructure and deaths.

Some areas of Tamil Nadu are expected to continue seeing heavy rainfall for two days, the weather bureau said. Light to heavy precipitation is also forecast for Telangana and Odisha, it said.

--With assistance from Ragini Saxena, Eltaf Najafizada and Jane Lanhee Lee.

(Updates to add landfall details in first two paragraphs.)

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