Several coastal pockets of Chennai witnessed severe water-logging on Thursday after rains lashed the city for close to six hours following a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal near Sri Lanka. Power cuts were reported in many parts of the city.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), last night, tweeted precautions and advisories for people during heavy rain.
Commuters were stranded on the roads due to slow moving traffic on Thursday evening. In the IT Corridor in south Chennai, many auto rickshaws were seen broken down as the water level had risen well above their wheels.
Flight operations at the Chennai airport have not been affected, according to airport authorities. Buses in the city largely stayed off the roads. On the Marina Beach Road, people were seen wading their vehicles through close to knee-deep water.
The North East monsoon had set in a few days ago and the meteorological office has given a heavy rain warning for coastal Tamil Nadu.
Between 8:30 am yesterday and 1 am today, the Nungambakkam area of the city received 15 cm rain. Corporation Commissioner Dr D Karthikeyan said, "People need not panic. There's good rainfall in areas closer to the sea. All these waters would recede once the rain stops. Waters would drain into the Buckingham canal and the River Cooum".
Chief Minister E Palaniswami's government said it has kept 115 multi-purpose shelters ready in the coastal districts. Local ministers and three senior bureaucrats have been designated for each district to co-ordinate rescue and expedite relief. In Chennai, two ministers have been designated for each zone to expedite relief. Officials said more suction pumps will be put in place to clear the water-logging in Chennai.
Schools in Chennai and other coastal towns have been closed since Tuesday.
In 2015, Chennai witnessed its worst floods in over a century in which over 150 people died.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu's Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani compared the monsoon preparedness of his state to that of developed nations. "It rained in Bengaluru recently, earlier it rained in the UK and US and we were told it was flooded everywhere. It shows our action is better than those of developed countries".