21cm of overnight rain floods Chennai localities

21cm of overnight rain floods Chennai localities

Very Heavy Rain Forecast For Next 2 Days

TNN & AGENCIES

Chennai: 08.11.2021

Evoking memories of the rain and deluge six years ago, the city recorded as much as 21.53cm of rainfall, the highest since the 2015 downpour, overnight on Saturday. The massive downpour inundated several areas and halted train services for some time. Motorists and pedestrians faced a tough time as several interior roads were submerged.

Velachery, T Nagar, Korattur, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and Kodungayur were the worst affected due to inundation. Six subways were shut due to waterlogging.

Chief minister M K Stalin announced a holiday for government offices in Chennai on Monday and asked private organisation to permit staff to work from home. He also urged PM Narendra Modi to grant funds for flood relief.

Chennai is likely to experience heavy to very heavy rain in the next two days due to an upper air circulation and a low pressure area, the regional meteorological department said in its forecast.

Surplus water from three reservoirs, (Poondi, Chembarambakkam, and Puzhal that serve the drinking water needs of the city) was meanwhile released in a phased manner. Rainwater entered several houses in parts of neighbourhoods in the city and suburbs, including Saidapet, Velachery, Ambattur, Korattur and Vyasarpadi, bringing back memories of the deluge of 2015 in the city. People were evacuated in inflatable boats by disaster response teams from some of the locations.

Most city and peripheral roads came under sheets of water and several trees were uprooted, leading to traffic diversions and disruption in transport services. People waded through ankle deep water to reach nearby shops to buy essential commodities.

Since the Southern Railway shifted departure of certain long-distance trains from Central Station to Thiruvallur, Avadi, Beach, Thiruvottiyur and Perambur, passengers had no other option but to pay what the cab or auto drivers demanded. As trains were operated only at 10 kilometres per hour, departures were delayed by at least three to four hours at Central. At the Chennai Airport, all flights were operated as scheduled. But some passengers missed their flights as they were unable to reach the airport on time.

According to revenue and disaster management minister KKSSR Ramachandran, affected persons have been housed in the relief camps and a total of 50,451 food packets have been distributed to people affected by water-logging. He said giant pumps are being used to pump out water from subways and waterlogged areas.