Chennai: Residents grappled with stagnant water and power disruption in parts of the city and its suburbs on Wednesday, two days after Cyclone Michuang wreaked havoc in the metropolis and neighbouring districts, even as civic agency personnel stepped up relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The cyclone-triggered heavy rainfall had led to inundation in localities including Velachery and Tambaram. On Wednesday too, people were seen leaving their homes in the areas surrounded with water to safer zones, carrying their children and wading through stagnant water.
They called for help, including pressing more boats to ferry people to higher ground. Chief Minister M K Stalin visited some of the affected areas and distributed food and essential commodities to people put up at a relief centre in the city. He inspected activities undertaken by the city civic body to drain water.
Chief Minister MK Stalin inspected the rain affected areas in Taramani on Wednesday, to assess the flood damages caused by the cyclone Michaung. He provided essentials including rice, milk, bread and mats to people. The chief minister Stalin wrote to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief funds of Rs5,060 crore for flood damages due to the cyclone Michaung.
At least 17 people have died in rain-related incidents in Chennai so far, as heavy rain triggered by the cyclone pounded the city from Sunday morning to late Monday evening, leaving large parts of it submerged. The Greater Chennai Police reported that the fatalities happened due to electrocution, wall collapse, and tree fall incidents. According to TANGEDCO, power has been restored in almost 60% of the areas while others have not been restored due to water logging. The officials say that they do not want to cause any untoward incidents and hence exercise extra caution to restore the power supply.
Nearly 48 hours after the cyclone hit Tamil Nadu, many areas in Chennai and its suburbs are still marooned. Explaining the reason why the water has not receded in many parts of the city even after the rains stopped, K Srikanth of COMK said, “Large-scale water logging will take time to drain because the rivers, canals, and SWD are not able to take the water to the sea. Storm surge due to Cyclone Michuang effectively working like a barrier. Now that it has made landfall things will become better.”
The Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been actively involved in rescue operations, navigating the inundated areas with boats to evacuate stranded residents.
The Greater Chennai Police has announced announce GCP Helpline numbers – 23452359, 23452360, 23452361, 23452377 and flood control 23452437.