Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached out to the people of cyclone Ockhi-hit areas of Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and assured them all possible help from the Centre to rebuild their lives and trace those missing.

Modi said search operations to trace the missing fishermen in Kerala and Tamil Nadu would continue and hoped that all of them would come back before Christmas.

“I am here to assure you that India stands shoulder to shoulder with all those affected by Cyclone Ockhi. We will leave no stone unturned in the rescue and relief operations,” said the PM, who addressed a gathering of fisher folk at Poonthura, a fishing hamlet near Thiruvanathapuram.

“Some of our people are stranded in foreign nations. The Ministry of External Affairs and various embassies are working to bring them back. Some people also got stranded in parts of the western coast. We have rescued many of them,” he said.

On a day-long hectic tour, Modi held discussions with the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Lakshadweep administration and reviewed the post-Ockhi situation. During the meetings, both Tamil Nadu and Kerala demanded a special financial package from the Centre to tide over the destruction caused by the natural calamity and wanted the cyclone to be declared a national disaster.

At Kanyakumari, TN Chief Minister K Palaniswami presented Modi a memorandum seeking Rs 9,302-crore central aid. He said his government sought Rs 5,255-crore assistance towards implementing permanent rehabilitation measures in Kanyakumari and another Rs 4,047 crore to cater to other parts of the state, including Chennai, affected by the monsoon.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan also sought a special central assistance of Rs 7,340 crore for rehabilitation and rebuilding of cyclone-affected villages. This package is besides the Rs 422 crore sought by the state under the National Disaster Relief Fund. The PM assured the Kerala Government that the package would be considered sympathetically.