Heavy rain pounded Chennai and other coastal districts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday after a day’s lull on Saturday. The heavy downpour which began early Sunday morning continued unabated as the Met Office attributed it to a “well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal”. Most of the city’s population stayed indoors because of the rains. The Marina Beach which usually sees an ocean of people wore a deserted look on Sunday evening.
Most arterial roads and interior roads were inundated by Sunday morning itself. Since the day happened to be a holiday there were no traffic snarls with most people staying indoors. But elsewhere in Chennai city, people were seen wading through waist-deep water in many subways and side roads. The Traffic Police were seen asking commuters to stay off the subways and side roads because of water clogging.
The coastal district of Nagapattinam received 18 cm rain till 0830 hrs on Sunday. Chennai received three cm rainfall between 8am and 11 am on Sunday. SR Ramanan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre of the Indian Meteorological Department said the State would receive heavy to very heavy rains for the next three days due to the well-marked low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.
The Government declared Monday a holiday for all schools and colleges in Chennai due to the incessant rains. With four more persons drowning in floods in different parts of the State on Sunday, the death toll due to the last five day’s rains crossed 59.
According to a senior official of the Stat Highways Department, more than 3000 km roads in the state were damaged in the downpour. “This has made driving through these roads a nightmarish experience. Efforts are on to make these roads motorable,” said the official.