Rains lash Chennai suburbs; to continue over weekend

After a lull, the suburbs of this metropolis received heavy rains through Wednesday night prompting the Kancheepuram district administration to announce holiday for school on Thursday. In more good news for the city, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy spells of rains over the weekend in and around Chennai.

The heavy rains that lashed the suburbs overnight resulted in waterlogging in several areas of Kancheepuram district on Thursday morning. Traffic jams were reported on the main highway connecting Chennai with Tiruchirapalli for a few hours in the morning due to waterlogging in several areas along the stretch.

While Kancheepuram district received 40 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am, Tambaram, the suburb of this metropolis, alone received 15 cm rainfall. Meenambakkam, which houses the Chennai airport, recorded 5 cm rainfall, the district administration said, adding that Sriperumbudur, which is home to several industries, received 9 cm rainfall in the past 24 hours.

The overnight rains forced the Kancheepuram district administration to announce a holiday for schools on Thursday. People living in Selaiyur, Agaram, and Irumpuliyur near Tambaram complained of severe waterlogging and asked the government to take steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

In its forecast for the weekend, the IMD said Chennai is expected to receive moderate to heavy spells of rainfall while districts like Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, and Thiruvarur are expected to experience heavy rainfall beginning Friday.

The heavy rains come days after the IMD said that Chennai has recorded a 37 per cent deficit in rainfall from the Northeast monsoon which began on October 1.

Weather blogger Pradeep John said the Tamil Nadu coast will experience heavy rainfall from November 30 to December 2. “

“The probability of heavy rains is high across the coastal belt. Right from Chennai to Thoothukudi, the coastal belt is in for a treat in the coming days,” John wrote on his Facebook page.