Heavy rains paralyse Chennai, 12 flights cancelled following red alert

Normal life was thrown out of gear as incessant rains lashed Chennai for about 24 hours. The heavy downpour brought the city to a standstill, inundating more than 300 low-lying localities. People living in low-lying areas like Velacherry, Palliakranai and many parts of north Chennai moved out from their homes to safer zones.

Chennai recorded 10 cm rainfall in 24 hours from October 14 to October 15. With the onset of the northeast monsoon over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Chennai is likely to witness non-stop rains for the next two days.

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According to a bulletin from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the weather system will further consolidate into a depression and move towards north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh by October 17, thus bringing in more rains for the next 48 hours. 

Earlier the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal had brought rains to Chennai and the adjoining districts of Kanchipuram, Chengelpet and Thiruvallur. Known as KTCC (Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur, Chennai and Chengelpet) the four districts witnessed at least 10 cms rainfall with many areas getting inundated in water with 15 cm of rainfall in many places in the city within a short period of time. 

The Meteorological Department had issued a red alert for KTCC, with a well-marked low-pressure area over the central part of the south Bay of Bengal and a depression over the West Central Arabian Sea off the Oman coast.

“The intense clouds which are parked outside Chennai coast are consolidating, becoming intense and ready to move into the city. This will bring the next round of very heavy rains across the city. Just in six hours, some places have crossed 150 mm in Chennai. Particularly north Chennai and central Chennai areas. The incoming rains look long from midnight, particularly in north Chennai. With night approaching, clouds will get even stronger,” tweeted Pradeep John, a blogger, popularly known as Tamil Nadu weatherman. 

During the past 24 hours, Tamil Nadu witnessed 2,241 cm of rainfall across the state. Parts of Madurai and Coimbatore were also inundated in water, while action has been taken by the authorities. In Chennai, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin along with the officials were on the ground checking the work done by the authorities to brace for the heavy downpour. The corporation, according to the official data available has set up 931 relief centres and many makeshift kitchens to help the people affected by rain.