Rains bring welcome relief to Chennai, suburbs

CHENNAI: Intense rains lashed the city and its suburbs on Thursday, causing inundation in several areas.

The rains, which came in the evening after sweltering weather till late afternoon, were influenced by the depression over northwest and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal with the east west shear zone passing over the Chennai region, a Metrological official here told PTI.

Weather observatories in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam here recorded six cm and four cm of rainfall respectively, a Metrological official said, adding the showers were 'intense.'

The evening rains caught off guard people who were returning from their work places, forcing them to wait for the showers to subside.

Several areas saw waterlogging and people could be seen wading through sheets of water as the spell also resulted in traffic congestion in many localities.

The pre-north east monsoon showers lasted for over an hour.