The cyclonic circulation near Gulf of Mannar, though weakened, is still there, while the new cyclonic circulation in the Indian Ocean has now moved and extended above sea level. 

“The cyclonic circulation over southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining equatorial Indian Ocean and south Andaman Sea now lies over equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal, and extends up to 4.5 km above mean sea level. Yesterday’s cyclonic circulation over Gulf of Mannar extending up to 1.5 km above mean sea level has become less marked,” said an official from the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. 

While landfall for the new cyclonic circulation is uncertain, the activity near Gulf of Mannar will continue bringing in rainfall for coastal and southern districts of Tamil Nadu. The weakening circulation means there will not be heavy rainfall in the State any more, but isolated areas can expect light to moderate rainfall over the next 24 hours, following which only light rainfall is expected. Chennai will see light rainfall and thunderstorms over the next 48 hours. 

“With new circulation in Arabian Sea, we will see easterly winds moving in easily and interior districts will get rains. There will be pull effect rains in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu region till Wednesday morning, and then we go for a long break. These pull effect rains can be intense short spells at times,” said weather blogger Pradeep John, who runs the page Tamil Nadu Weatherman. 

Chennai received a smattering of rain on Tuesday, with Meenambakkam recording 27.8 mm and Nungambakkam recorded 8 mm. 

 Several residential areas off Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), also known as Rajiv Gandhi IT highway, are still flooded and residents are having a difficult time coming out of their houses. They even have to travel in lorries and tractors to buying essential goods. Sources said roads in Navalur and Thalambur are still flooded. 

The situation is especially worse in Ezhil Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Jaganathan Nagar. Thousands of families living in those areas have been suffering from the situation for the past few days. They said it is impossible to travel by cars or two-wheelers since the water level on the roads is too high. 

The residents hired a tractor together and are using it to travel to shops to buy essential goods for one week at a time. Even the gas cylinders could not be delivered to the houses and residents have to collect them using the tractor. A few office-goers in the area are travelling on lorries for up to 2 km and then using other modes of transport to reach offices. 

Residents said Thiruporur municipality officials and Revenue officials had visited the area many times but no steps have been taken yet. 

After rain every year, the area flood inevitably but officials are yet to find a permanent solution to it. A few days ago, an elderly person fell ill but he could not be taken to a hospital for the want of safe transportation.