Chennai rains: Fresh evening showers a day after monster downpour test residents on Friday
On the 5th consecutive day of the Chennai rains, the skies opened up yet again late on Friday evening after a day of sunshine, with 55 mm rain recorded around 10 pm at Nungambakkam.
Share Via Email
Published: 04th November 2017 07:59 AM |
Last Updated: 04th November 2017 02:23 PM
| A+A A-
Evening rains after a breather following Thursday's record rainfall, left several areas of the city waterlogged. (PTI Photo)
CHENNAI: Friday was pleasant and sunny, which helped expedite relief work, but the skies opened up yet again late in the evening, with 55 mm rain recorded around 10 pm at Nungambakkam here, on the fifth consecutive day of rains.
“Within three days, Chennai received a whopping 36 cm rain. Steps have been taken to clear the stagnating water immediately,” Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said after visiting a few places in the city.
Media reports say that at least twelve people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since October 27, when the northeast monsoon set in. A farmer was electrocuted in Thiruvarur in southern Tamil Nadu on Friday.
The Met office on Friday predicted that rain would continue for at least the next two days. School holiday has been extended by one more day.
Although most of the water-logging has been cleared in Chennai, low-lying areas and the suburbs of the capital continue to be water-logged.
Marina Beach on the Bay of Bengal coast after heavy rain in Chennai on Friday.
(PTI Photo)
Hours after Chennai received its heaviest rainfall for November in 41 years on Thursday night, the city was up on its feet because of overnight mitigation by an army of Corporation officials. The government pulled out all stops with the CM leading from the front and ministers joining the task force.
The showers have been attributed to a low pressure area that lies over Southwest Bay of Bengal off Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coast and extends up to 3.1km above the mean sea level. Thursday night’s rain was so intense that in the 24 hours that ended at Friday 8.30 am, DGP office weather station opposite Marina beach recorded as much as 300 mm rainfall. S Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said Thursday’s evening record rainfall was a special event and people blaming IMD for not forecasting it was ‘unfair’.
A few trains were delayed due to waterlogging on the tracks between Guindy and Tambaram. A contingent of 1,133 employees of Greater Chennai Corporation worked overnight to clear the stagnant water in 338 places. They used high-capacity motors in many areas to clear them with the assistance of local volunteers. READ HERE | Failure of signalling system cripples Chennai's suburban rail operations.
Going by the intensity of Friday night’s rain, Corporation officials have their task cut out.
Chennaiites have taken to social media to map flooding in the city by crowd-sourcing info and help people and the government agencies. The citizen-driven initiatives help map badly affected areas with people providing everything from details of the location, pictures and the water level. Just search with #ChennaiRains for real-time updates.
Sea turns black at Marina
In a repeat of 2015, the sea at the Marina beach turned black on Friday. Experts said this was due to the sewage from the rivers Cooum and Adyar washed up and mixed in the sea by the floods caused by the Thursday night’s downpour.
When the sea at the Marina turned black. (Express Photo | D Sampathkumar)
Stay up to date on all the latest Chennai news with The New Indian Express App. Download now
Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.
The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.