Heavy rains batter Chennai yet again

Incessant rains that began on Wednesday evening continue to pound this southern metropolis, its neighbouring districts, and elsewhere in the state as a Depression in the southwest Bay of Bengal prepares to cross the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coast near Chennai by Thursday evening.

Two persons lost their lives in the Cauvery Delta region due to rains on Thursday, while 157 cattle died and over 1,072 huts were damaged. Revenue Minister K K S S R Ramachandran said over 9,312 persons have been lodged at relief centres in the state.

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The extremely heavy rainfall in Chennai, whose suburb Tambaram recorded 23 cm of rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Thursday, led to flooding and waterlogging in several areas of the city, where power supply has been suspended in most parts as a precautionary measure.

This is the second time in less than a week that the city has experienced extremely heavy rainfall after it received 20 cm of rainfall on November 6. The rains battered the city yet again forcing the closure of over a dozen subways and several roads for traffic.

A hospital in K K Nagar was flooded prompting shifting of patients to near-by facilities while several localities were marooned. Incessant rains hampered the relief measures in some places, while people living in low-lying areas in Velachery were rescued through fiber boats.

Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) said it has suspended power supply to 36,000-odd houses in several parts of the city as a precautionary measure. As the rains continued to pound the city, power supply was cut off in many other areas too.

Several localities like Ambattur, Velachery, Valasaravakkam, and Kolathur were inundated causing severe inconvenience to residents even as the MeT Department forecast heavy rains till Thursday evening.

At 8.00 am, the Depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal lay about 170 km east-southeast of Chennai and 170 km east of Puducherry. “The depression will continue to move west-northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coast around Chennai by the evening,” the IMD said.

As the Depression nears Chennai, the IMD said, the city will experience heavy rains and winds up to 45 to 50 km per hour. Even as the rains continued, personnel from the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and other agencies were working to drain the rain water out using giant pumps.

Seven teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) fanned out across the city and neighbouring Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts evacuating those stranded in floods. As the rains continued non-stop, Chief Minister M K Stalin telephoned ministers and nodal officers in-charge of rain-hit districts and asked them to take every step to alleviate the sufferings of the people.

He also deputed six senior ministers to visit the Cauvery Delta region and submit a report to him on the extent of damage to crops. Stalin is likely to visit the worst-affected districts outside Chennai on Friday.

Independent weather blogger Pradeep John said the “worst was over” for Chennai which would receive occasional rains. “It will be windy till Depression crosses North Chennai-Sriharikota belt by evening. On an average, 150 mm rainfall reported in Chennai and KTC belt and some stations have crossed 200 mm rainfall too,” he wrote on his verified Facebook page.

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