— Photo: S. R.Raghunathan

THE DELUGE: Torrential rain has caused heavy flooding throughout Chennai. A scene at the arterial Anna Salai-General Patters Road junction on Thursday.

CHENNAI: Torrential rain, caused by a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal, disrupted life in Chennai and northern Tamil Nadu on Thursday. At least 50,000 people in Chennai were shifted to relief centres, as houses in several low-level areas were submerged. The armed forces have been alerted to provide assistance in conjunction with the civil administration.

Chennai received 42 cm of rainfall between 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday and midnight on Thursday night.

Two persons were electrocuted in Chennai. In neighbouring Tiruvallur district, a car was washed away in the rain and three of the occupants, a woman and two children, were reported missing.

Schools and colleges remained closed and government offices and private establishments reported thin attendance. Buses operated with a skeleton staff.

Trains leaving Chennai were cancelled and those coming into the city stopped at suburban stations, inconveniencing thousands of passengers. All services from the Central station have been withdrawn till Friday noon. Southern Railway trains scheduled to arrive at Central on Friday morning were also withdrawn.

Flight schedules were disrupted early in the morning. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, as a precautionary step to avoid electrocution, disconnected power supply in heavily-flooded areas. Waterlogging and uprooted trees created traffic jams in the morning. Telecommunication came under strain as the mobile networks were fully jammed and landlines failed in some exchanges.

According to the Meteorological office, the deep depression over the Southwest Bay lay centred about 150 km east of Chennai on Thursday afternoon. It is likely to move in a west northwesterly direction and cross the coast of north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh between Chennai and Ongole by Friday morning.

Unprecedented rain

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa reviewed the flood situation in the State, and toured the rain-hit areas of Chennai.

The city, she noted, received an unprecedented downpour of 27 cm between 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday and 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.

Of this, as much as 21 cm fell in an intense spell in just five hours begun 3.30 a.m. on Thursday.

Mobile medical teams have been formed to provide assistance to those who were stranded or hurt in the sudden spell. Hospitals have been alerted to be prepared with ambulance services and 24-hour readiness to handle any emergency. According to the police, 32 persons died in rain-related incidents in the last four days.

The rainstorm in northern Tamil Nadu came just as the Cauvery districts were slowly recovering from the heavy flooding that followed huge inflows into the river from Karnataka. Srirangam town in Tiruchi district, as also other areas along the riverbank in the Cauvery delta, survived flood threats in the last few days.

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