Chennai: Heavy rains have been lashing various parts of Tamilndu including Chennai and its suburbs at frequent intervals, bringing back waterlogging woes in many areas.
Red alert has been issued to 12 districts, especially the coastal ones, while orange alert has been given to their neighbouring districts. Schools and colleges have been declared holiday in more than 20 districts.
Stating that rains have occurred in 37 districts of the State, officials since the onset of Northeast monsoon on October one, the State has received 580.84 mm of rains, which was 70 per cent higher than the average rainfall of 341.33 mm.
Met office said heavy to very heavy rains were reported in 12 districts, while three districts witnessed heavy rains.
Thoothukudi and the temple town of Tiruchendur recorded extremely heavy rains.
Heavy rains also occurred in Madurai, Tirunelveli, Sivaganga, Ariyalur, Pudukottai, Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari and other districts, including the Central region and in Cauvery delta areas.
In Nagapattinam, Thoothukudi and other districts the intensity of the rain was such that knee deep water inundated several areas and entered the house and people could not venture out to buy their essentials.
Met office has predicted the present spell of heavy rains to continue till the month end, as one more low pressure area is expected to form in the South Andaman sea on 29 November.
People of Chennai woke up to a heavy downpour and thunderstorms as incessant and intermittent rains lashed the city and suburbs since last evening. The showers were heavy at time and several areas were water-logged prompting the police to divert traffic in some places.
The neighbouring districts of Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpet also witnessed heavy rains.