Chennai Rainfall: Rain Pounds Chennai, Roads Flooded, Flight Arrivals Suspended: 10 Points

Chennai Rain: Chennai airport has suspended arrivals in view of the heavy rain and crosswinds

Chennai: Heavy rain continues to batter Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu, with air, rail and vehicular traffic affected, and roads, homes and hospitals in low-lying areas flooded. 'Red alerts' are in place for 8 districts, including Chennai, and Puducherry.

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Extremely heavy rainfall has been forecast for Chennai and seven other districts, as well as Puducherry, with predicted winds in excess of 45 km per hour. Alerts are in place for Tiruvallur, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, and Salem, as well as Chennai. Moderate rainfall is expected over Villupuram, Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Perambalur and Ariyalur.
A depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal is moving towards the state's northern coast. At 2.30 pm it was 30 km southeast of Chennai and is expected to cross north Tamil Nadu and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh during the next few hours.
Chennai airport has suspended all arrivals till 6 pm. Departures will continue as scheduled, the airport said, adding that the decision had been taken "considering safety of passengers". Southern Railways said several services from Chennai Central to Tiruvallur had been suspended due to water on the tracks at Avadi and Ambattur. There are also delays on northern lines towards Gummidipoondi. Road traffic in the city has also been affected, with 13 subways flooded.
Heavy rain pounded several Tamil Nadu districts overnight and this morning, particularly the northern parts of the state; this includes capital Chennai and nearby Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Villupuram. At least 14 people have died in rain-related incidents across the state, a senior official told news agency ANI.
Schools and colleges have been closed in Chennai and other districts for a fourth straight day, and several areas in the capital city remain waterlogged for a fifth straight day. The government has urged people to stock up on food and fresh water and stay home. They have been asked not to leave unless it is an emergency.
Visuals shared by ANI showed floodwaters entering a hospital in Chennai's KK Nagar. Other visuals showed flooding outside the metro station near Madras High Court. One worrying video showed a police officer carrying an unconscious man on her shoulders.
"We've deployed 11 teams in Tamil Nadu and two in Puducherry. Five are on standby. All teams have equipment to deal with all types of disasters. Advice to people is that if your house isn't flooded, then stay indoors, Rekha Nambiyar, a senior NDRF officer told ANI.
Residents in areas like Periyar Nagar (a low-lying area in Chief Minister MK Stalin's Kolathur constituency) showed NDTV how floodwaters had destroyed their home, and said they despaired of the government fixing an annual problem in the flood-prone city. Mr Stalin blamed the AIADMK government for a "shoddy job", and the Madras High Court asked the city's civic body: "What have you been doing since 2015?"
Tamil Nadu has recorded more than 50 per cent excess rainfall (as compared to historical average) between October 1 and November 10. During this period rainfall in the state was 38 cm, which is 52 per cent above normal. Chennai received 61 cm of rain in the same period, against a historical average of 41 cm.
Over half of 90 key reservoirs and 14,138 lakes in the state are at least 75 per cent full already, raising fears of a repeat of 2015, when a sudden excess discharge from Chennai's Chembarambakkam reservoir flooded over four lakh homes in the city..