Heavy rains wreak havoc in Tamil Nadu; MeT predicts more downpour

New Delhi: The Centre yesterday rushed 11 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, comprising over 400 personnel, to conduct relief and rescue operations in rain-hit Tamil Nadu. After a review meeting, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa toured the rain-affected areas on Monday afternoon, assuring people of faster and immediate relief. 71 people have died in rail related incidents so far. The reservoirs around Chennai have recorded the maximum level of rainfall ranging from 30 to 37 cm for the past 24 hours.

There have been many systems in the Bay of Bengal in last few years which had more intensity but did not bring so much rainfall to the city as the depression responsible for the current rain.

Military helicopters on Tuesday were sent to rescue those trapped by waters in hard-hit areas across the state, which has witnessed incessant rains over the past week.

A Indian couple walk with an umbrella in a waterlogged Marina beach during heavy rains in Chennai.

Rescue workers on a boat move people to safety at a residential area that was water-logged following heavy rains in Chennai.

Weather department officials said whether the depression would intensify into a cyclone could be ascertained only later. The areas which got affected due to floods include Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, Choolai, Kolathur, Purusawalkkam.

Announcing Rs. 500-crore for relief and rehabilitation, she also constituted two teams of IAS officials to speed up relief work in the city and its southern suburbs.

Government and educational institutions remained closed on Monday and rail services were severely disrupted, with the Indian Meteorological Department warning that heavy rains would continue in Tamil Nadu as well as its neighboring states Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Most subways, except for six, had been cleared of water and vehicular movement restored, she said, adding uprooted trees were being removed on a war footing. Most major rivers across Tamil Nadu drain into the seas through this district.