Cyclone Vardah makes landfall in India with powerful wind, heavy rain

NEW DELHI, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- India braced itself to take a beating from Cyclone Vardah on Monday as the severe storm bore down on the country's southern coast, bringing heavy wind and rain to the city of Chennai.

More than 9,000 people were evacuated in the south of India starting Sunday night ahead of Vardah's landfall, with the storm expected to bring sustained winds more than 60 mph and a storm surge that may reach 1 meter high.

While the storm is expected to drop to tropical storm strength after making landfall -- sustained winds under 56 mph -- more than 9 million people are in Vardah's potential path. Wind is not the main concern for the storm, meteorologists say, as heavy rain may last for hours and cause flooding.

"Remain in safe places and cooperate with state government officials and disaster management agencies," the National Disaster Management Authority in India asked residents in a tweet ahead of the storm.

More than 174 shelters were opened to house those evacuated from Chennai and other districts in the coastal region. Heavy rain had already been reported before the storm reached the coast, and in some areas power grids were shut down to prevent them from being damaged.

In addition to evacuations going on for the past 12 hours, at least 50 flights were delayed, some train services were shut down, all schools and universities were closed, and government employees were asked to work from home.

Making landfall early Monday over the coastal city of Chennai, Vardah is expected to move west over India toward Bangalore later Monday afternoon. Storm surge is expected be significant near the coast and many areas may see 5 inches or more of rain as the storm pulls through.