Chennai: After a day of unprecedented downpour, rains returned to haunt the people of Chennai city and suburbs, which has been reeling under thick sheets of water.
After experiencing non-stop heavy showers for almost nine hours Thursday which had brought down the mercury level significantly, people woke up to bright and sunny morning on Friday. But there were rains in the evening.
Meanwhile, the Met office has forecast heavy showers for the next three days in the coastal and Cauvery delta districts.
The rains were accompanied by strong winds which also hampered the relief works being undertaken by the Greater Chennai Corporation officials like pumping out stagnated water using motor pumps in several parts of the city.
Talking about Thursday’s torrential rains, Met Office Director S Puviarasan told reporters that cloud burst was not the reason for the heavy rains.
‘Since the upper air cyclonic circulation, which was lying in the sea, suddenly moved towards the land at a fast pace, there was thick cloud cover leading to rains’.
Stating there might be some practical difficulties in accurately predicting the heavy rains, Puviarasan said there would not be so much of rain if there was a cloudburst. The wind pattern and the quantum of rain can change. This was the precise reason for Thursday’s rain when the city received 24 cm of rains, recording the third wettest day in December.
Normal life continued to remain affected as several areas were inundated affecting free movement of vehicular traffic. In several areas rain waters had entered the house-holds.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister M K Stalin visited the rain affected areas in the city along with Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi and inspected the relief works.