Chennai/Thiruvananthapuram: While there has been a respite from the rains for the last couple of days over Tamilnadu and Kerala, MeT Department’s new announcement about the formation of a new low pressure area has brought the fear back.
But this time, Keralaites need not fear as the weather system has developed over Bay of Bengal reviving the prospects of rains again in Chennai.
A MeT official said, “A low pressure area has formed over northwest bay of Bengal and neighbourhood. It is likely to become more marked during next 24 hours. In wake of this, sky condition in Chennai is likely to be generally cloudy in the next 24 hours and development of thunderclouds towards evening or night is also possible while light rain is likely to occur in some areas.”
While there were no rains in the city, the temperatures almost never department from the normal recording 35.6 and 27.1 degrees, maximum and minimum.
The official added that rains continued in the ghat regions. “In the last 24 hours, Devala recorded a maximum rainfall of 4 cm followed by Valparai which received 3 cm. Naduvattam and Chinnakalar recorded 2 cm each while G Bazar and Pollachi recorded 1 cm each,” he informed.
Meanwhile, commercial flight operations from the Naval airport at Kochi commenced today with the first Air India flight from Bengaluru arriving this morning. Small aircrafts are being operated from the naval airport as the Kochi International Airport has shut operations till 26 August following flooding in the heavy rains.
The first AI flight from Bengaluru arrived this morning and returned by 8.30 am. Train services between state capital and Ernakulam are also slowly becoming normalised.
Skeletal services were run between Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha-Kottayam routes saw trains packed with flood affected people moving to the houses of their friends and relatives.
The deadly monsoon rains have claimed 210 lives since 8 August and has displaced over 7.14 lakh people from their homes. In the worst affected Chengannur in Alappuzha district, efforts are on to rescue some of those stranded in certain pockets, including Pandanad.
Thirteen people lost their lives yesterday while 7,24,649 lakh people were housed in 5,645 relief camps across the state.
Around 22,000 people were rescued yesterday alone in the operations launched by the defence personnel, national and state disaster response forces, fishermen and local people.
The next big challenge for the government is the epidemic. The chief minister said in each panchayat six health officers would be deployed to ensure there was no outbreak of any communicable diseases as the flood water recedes.
People have started returning home from relief centres with flood waters receding. Many were shocked to see the state of their homes covered with mud and slush as the water receded.
| RAINS OF KERALA |
| Rainfall over Kerala during the South West Monsoon (1 June to 19 August) has been exceptionally high. It has so far received 234.66 cm rains against the normal of 164.95 cm, according to IMD. High-range Idukki recorded the highest excess rainfall (92 per cent above normal) followed by Palakkad (72 per cent above normal). These two districts had reported several deaths and massive destructions due to flooding and landslides. |