Chennai rains: Downpour continues in city, Tamil Nadu; MeT department says more showers likely

Chennai: Rain fury continued in the city and other coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, with the metropolis gauging 93 percent more showers than normal for the 1 October to 4 November period. The MeT department said low-pressure area and upper cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal are likely to bring more rains. Light to moderate rains were recorded in some areas in the state. Eight persons have died so far since the onset of the northeast monsoon in the state on 27 October. For the 1 October to 4 November period, 19 cm of rainfall was recorded in Tamil Nadu against the normal of 21 cm, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, S Balachandran said. [caption id=“attachment_4193281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vehicles move through a waterlogged road during heavy rain in Chennai on Friday. PTI[/caption] Chennai gauged 62 cm of precipitation against the normal of 32 cm for the period, he said. Rains are likely to subside in two-three days in coastal areas. In the past 24 hours, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry witnessed widespread rains in coastal regions and some places in interior districts, he added. Talaignayiru and Thirutharapoondi in Nagapattinam district recorded 27 cm and 24 cm of rainfall respectively, he said. Chennai received 6 cm of rains in Meenambakkam and 7 cm in Nungambakkam, Nagapattinam 9 cm and Ponneri 10 cm, according to MeT department data. Commuters had a harrowing time with rains affecting bus and train services. Traffic moved at a snail’s pace in some areas. Schools and colleges, closed since 31 October, were shut on Saturday as well, while several universities postponed their exams. The State-level National Talent Search Exam scheduled for today has been deferred to 18 November. Civic authorities, including Corporation officials, District Collectors (Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur) were coordinating relief work. The power supply was suspended in inundated areas like parts of MKB Nagar in North Chennai, pockets of Madipakkam in South Chennai and Karapakkam off Porur in Western Chennai to ensure safety. Netizens posted updates on traffic diversion, inundation on social media sites to help road users. Volunteers gave away food packets and water in affected areas in Nanmangalam and Pallikaranai here. Chief Minister K Palaniswamy had on Friday visited many waterlogged parts of the city and the suburbs, insisting that his government was working on a “war-footing”. His deputy O Panneerslevam and senior officials had accompanied him. Meanwhile, a Met department bulletin said the low-pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal and the adjoining coastal regions of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu continue to persist. The Met department said rain or thundershowers were likely over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and at a few places over interior Tamil Nadu. Heavy rain is very likely at some places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, it said. A release from the Railways said water-logging in the Chennai division led to the failure of “track circuit-based signalling”, affecting punctuality between Kodambakkam and St Thomas Mount stations in the southern sector at 9 pm on Friday. It was fixed around 9.50 pm. The signalling system was also hit on the northern Tondiarpet and Korukkupet route between 9.35 pm yesterday and 5.45 am on Saturday, the release said. This morning, a rail fracture was detected between St Thomas Mount and Pallavaram stations and it was set right soon after, officials said.