Sudden heavy rains drench Chennai; claim 3 lives

At least three persons lost their lives on Thursday as extremely heavy rainfall up to 20 cm in just a few hours plunged this metropolis into chaos with several low-lying areas going under water and traffic on arterial roads going out of gear for several hours together due to waterlogging.

Three persons – two women and a child – died of electrocution in different parts of the city as several streets went under the water. Four subways and several roads were closed for traffic as the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) extended its services till midnight to cater to a huge rush of passengers who opted for the new age transport system due to gridlocked roads.

Chennai district (MRC Nagar) recorded an unprecedented 20.8 cm rainfall in the last 12 hours ending at 8.30 pm on Thursday, while Nungambakkam registered 15.95 cm, YMCA Nandanam (15.9 cm), Meenambakkam (10.8 cm), Anna University (12.1 cm), Sathyabhama University (5.8 cm), and Tiruvallur (4.65 cm).

Sudden rains which began at around 2 pm on Thursday surprised Chennaiites and heavy showers were continuing in many parts of the city at the time of writing. Traffic snarls were reported from across Chennai with motorists and those travelling by car stuck on the roads for several hours together.

The shopping district of T. Nagar, the arterial Anna Salai, Triplicane, Mylapore, K K Nagar, Vadapalani, Kodambakkam, Ramapuram, Porur, Valasaravakkam, are some of the areas where heavy rains led to severe waterlogging bringing many localities under water. Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) said it has deployed over 150 giant pumps to drain water from low-lying areas. Till 11 pm, 27 trees were uprooted.

Several localities received 10 to 20 cm of rainfall, categorised as heavy to extremely heavy, in just a few hours, in what weather bloggers termed as “unprecedented.”

Chennai district (MRC Nagar) recorded an unprecedented 20.8 cm rainfall till 6.30 pm on Thursday, while Nungambakkam and YMCA Nandanam registered 15.9 cm each, Meenambakkam (10.8 cm), Anna University (12.1 cm), Sathyabhama University (5.8 cm each ), and Tiruvallur (4.65 cm).

The city’s infrastructure seems to have crumbled as more than 3 subways closed for traffic and the civic body was also caught unaware due to sudden heavy rains.

The infrastructure came under extreme stress in November when the city received rains for over 20 of the 30 days – the civic body, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) came under criticism for not being prepared to handle the North-east Monsoon (NEM).

Though weather bloggers forecast rains for the city, some of them took to Twitter later Thursday to term the rains as a “completely freak event” and “some crazy stuff.”

“Though I expected rains today in the city, what happened today was completely freak event and some crazy stuff. There was not even a hint from even one of the 50 members of the ensembles of the heavy rains. On average 5 mm was expected from 50 members. The reality was 100-200 mm,” independent weather blogger Pradeep John said.

He said such an event has never happened in the past 15 years. “We have seen a 5 mm forecast giving 50 mm rains but not 200 mm rains,” he added.

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