Before Tamil Nadu could recover from last week’s heavy rain, a fresh depression has formed in the Bay of Bengal threatening further downpour in the state.
"A new trough of low pressure area has formed over Bay of Bengal that might transform into a depression and move in the north-westerly direction,” a senior Met official said Thursday.
“As a result of this, fresh rain are expected over Tamil Nadu from Saturday,” he said, adding isolated heavy to very heavy rain could occur over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next 48 hours.
He pointed out that Tamil Nadu received 300 mm rain in the last two days alone due to the depression, as against the average monsoon rain of 440 mm in the October-December season.
“Cuddalore district, which suffered damages to crops and houses due to the depression, received 500 mm rain as against the average of 607 mm,” he added.
Revenue officials said Cuddalore and surrounding areas are limping back to normalcy, as the rescue teams are carrying out rehabilitation works including drinking water supply and food/medicine to affected people.
"More than 25,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas and were lodged in relief camps", a senior IAS official involved in relief works in Cuddalore district said.
Meanwhile, rain-related deaths in the state touched 50 with three persons drowning in Cuddalore, two getting electrocuted in Chennai and two more succumbing to lightning strike in Nagapattinam in the last 24 hours. PWD sources said several reservoirs and lakes are overflowing, prompting revenue authorities to issue flood alerts and evacuate people from low lying areas. "More than 2,000 acres of crops including paddy field in over 100 acres at Delta districts were submerged in water due to heavy rain", a senior official at the PWD said.
Published 12 November 2015, 19:32 IST