Facebook enables Safety Check feature for Cyclone Vardah

Facebook has enabled the "Facebook Safety Check" feature as Cyclone Vardah arrived near Chennai. According to reports, the cyclone will take two hours to cross the land, and the eye of the cyclone is currently passing over Chennai.The cyclone started landfalling near Chennai uprooting hundreds of trees and disrupting land, air and rail traffic around the area. NDRF teams are on standby along with the Army in Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh as the wind speed has reached about 110-120 km per hour.[caption id="attachment_352404" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image Credit: Facebook[/caption]Authorities have warned population not to venture out in the open and stay indoors instead. Facebook has turned on the "Safety Check" where people in the area can mark themselves as 'Safe' or 'Out of the area'. This feature helps friends and family know the if the people are safe or not. According to weather reports the affected cities include Chennai, Mahabalipuram, Banglore, Pondicherry, Ponneri and Tirupati.You can visit the "Safety Check" feature to ask your friends in the area if they are safe or not. Facebook presents you with a list of people from your friend's list in the affected areas. This feature is a backup to the situations when you can't get in touch with a telephone call or SMS and the only access on the other end maybe wired internet connection.