Heavy rains in Chennai resulted in three deaths due to electrocution, and four subway lines were shut on Thursday. Nearly 100 streets in Chennai city were waterlogged, and the officials and employees of the Greater Chennai Corporation are at work to clear the waterlogging in the city.
State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran announced red alert for four districts: Chennai, Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur, and Chinglepet. He informed the reporters that the city's 106 streets are waterlogged, and once the rain stops, the waterlogging would be cleared.
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While speaking to the media, S Balachandran, Deputy Director-General, IMD, stated, "The interaction of easterly winds at lower levels and westerly winds at upper levels has delivered rain to the city. Rain will continue to fall in the city till January 3."
Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall activity is expected to persist across north coastal Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas of south coastal Andhra Pradesh for the next three days before decreasing, according to the IMD. Weather enthusiasts claimed on social media that the intensity of rainfall and storms surpassed previous records. According to one such report, Thursday's rains in Chennai were the heaviest for a single day in December after 2015.
However, IMD officials here did not corroborate such claims.
According to Ramachandran, the tanks and reservoirs surrounding Chennai are being monitored for inflow and if necessary, would be opened for safety. He further said that rains were heavy in Nandanam, Vadapalani and M.R.C. Nagar in Chennai.
Due to the severe rainfall and to enable passengers to reach their homes safely, CMRL had extended its service timings till 12 am on December 30.
Heavy rain also caused traffic congestion on Chennai's Mount Road. It was a repeat of last month's events, when motorists struggled to manoeuvre their vehicles on flooded roads and subways, while rains caused traffic congestion in the city and suburbs.
The highest rainfall of 17.65 CM was reported in MRC Nagar here, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam had 14.65 CM and 10 CM, respectively. Showers ranged from 1 CM (Madhavaram) to 10 CM in other areas, including those in neighbouring Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts (Nandanam). The rainfall data was recorded between 8.30 AM and 6.15 PM today.
