- Saturday, December 21, 2024
Operations in the city’s airport were suspended and various schools, colleges and government offices were closed due to inclement weather conditions.
By: Shubham Ghosh
HEAVY rain continued to lash the southern Indian city of Chennai and its nearby districts on Monday (4) as Cyclone Michaung was on its way to make an expected landfall on Tuesday (5). Low-lying areas in several parts of the coastal city were flooded as a result with civic authorities struggling to drain out stagnant water.
In a memory bringing back the horror of 2015 in which the monsoon’s fury resulted in deaths of 500 people and displacement of more than 1.8 million, videos went viral on social media showing heavily inundated streets in the city, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and cars being swept away by gushing water like toys. Long traffic congestion was reported from many parts of the city.
In Meenabakkam, where Chennai’s airport is located, heavy downpour was recorded and operations in both domestic and international sections were suspended. Some in-bound international flights were diverted to Bengaluru in the neighbouring state of Karnataka due to bad weather conditions.
Apartment in Pallikaranai, Chennai
Effect of #CycloneMichuang ??
Stay safe chennai!!#ChennaiRain pic.twitter.com/txiJtrq1BQ
— vittoba.balaji (@balavittoba) December 4, 2023
Several schools, colleges and government offices remained closed due to the flood conditions. The government of Tamil Nadu urged private companies to allow their employees to work from home.
Chief Minister MK Stalin reviewed the safety measures on Sunday (3) night and was closely monitoring the situation.
Authorities deployed eight National Disaster Response Force and nine State Disaster Response Force teams in various affected districts of the state, including Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Cuddalore.
