Chennai: Heavy rains battered Chennai city, suburbs and northern districts, thanks to the well-marked low pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal Tamilnadu, which is expected to bring more rainfall during the next two days. It however weakened today.
Met Office Deputy Director S Balachandran told reporters here that during the last 24 hours, widespread rains were received in North Tamilnadu and Puducherry and moderate rainfall in South coastal districts as the system moved over the interior districts of the State.
Under the influence of the low pressure, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur over Tamilnadu and Pudducherry and isolated heavy fall over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and southern parts of Rayalaseema and South Interior Karnataka during next 24 hours.
Moderate rain or thundershower was also likely to occur at most places over North Tamilnadu and Puducherry and light to moderate rain or thundershowers were likely at a few places over South Tamilnadu.
Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over North Tamilnadu and Puducherry during the next 48 hrs.
The rains, which lashed the city and suburbs non-stop since yesterday, relented for a brief while this morning, with the sun coming out. But soon, dark clouds gathered over the horizon as the weathergod opened up in several parts of the city, which were inundated due to the continuous rains.
Traffic snarls were witnessed in arterial stretches of the city due to water logging causing hardship to office-goers. Schools and colleges were declared a holiday for the day in view of heavy rains.
The rains were quite heavy during late last night and early this morning, with the adjoining Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Villuppuram districts experiencing heavy to very heavy showers, crippling normal life.
Heavy rains also lashed Tiruvannamalai, Vellore and in Cauvery delta regions, which were recently hit by Cyclone ‘Gaja’. The Chennai city received 9.36 cm of rain during the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am this morning, while the suburban Meenambakkam observatory recorded 8.75 cm of rain during the same period.
The rains, especially in catchment areas, came as a welcome sign as it augmented the storage level in the reservoirs, with Sholavaram, one of the main source of drinking water needs of the city, receiving a maximum of 12 cm of rain, along with the City’s northern suburb of Madhavaram. Red hills, which was another drinking water source for the city, received 11 cm of rain.
Photo: B Anand