Indian city Chennai grapples with deadly flood aftermath

Some areas are still badly affected and remain cut off. Rescue teams are now focussing on these neighbourhoods while trying to get food and medicines to thousands of people who have been affected.

The Singapore Government will contribute $75,000 towards the Singapore Red Cross’ South Asia Floods 2015 public appeal, following devastating floods in Chennai city and other parts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“As the need for rescue has come down, the 50 NDRF teams and 13 army columns deployed are now more pressed into relief services rather than rescue”, it said. Residents were plucked from the rooftops of their marooned homes by helicopters and boats following the devastating floods which officials said were caused by the worst rains in a century. Three naval ships carrying relief materials also have reached Tamil Nadu as well.

The Southern Railway has announced special trains to Tirunelveli, Rameswaram and Howrah from Chennai Beach station in a bid to clear the large number of train travellers.

In one of the most shocking incidents, the patients in the intensive care unit of the MIOT International hospital died after floods took out generators running life-support systems, Prithvi Mohandas, a doctor at the hospital, said.

The death toll is expected to go up as more water recedes.

Since the airport was shut because of too much water logging, this is the first set of flights to operate. The metropolis of nine million is facing spiralling costs of essential items, a lack of clean water, and the risk of water- borne diseases as the overwhelmed authorities struggle with rescue and relief operations.

The government said 453 tonnes of milk power had been distributed at the relief camps. And beware of the doctored image floating around, showing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi looking at the flooding from an aircraft window during his Chennai visit on Thursday.

Indian authorities have attempted to blame climate change for the flooding but according to weather experts, the seasonal north-east monsoon, worsened by the El Nino effect in the eastern Pacific Ocean, was mainly responsible for the unprecedented rainfall.

77 such trucks had started arriving last night and normal supply will be restored in a couple of days, it said.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) director Sunita Narain told the Hindu on December 3 said that the Chennai floods were the direct result of unregulated urbanisation.

Around 130 people including over 60 university students and an old French couple were flown to Delhi from here on Friday after they were taken to safety by a coordinated team of defence and NDRF personnel.