Chennai hit by another rain spell

Chennai: Chennai and Tamil Nadu had hardly recovered from the record rainfall of Thursday when they were hit by further spells on Friday and Saturday adding to waterlogging woes.

The pedestrians and commuters had to tackle badly inundated roads even coupled with delayed bus and train services.

Traffic snarls and non-functional traffic signals added to the troubles that crippled the normal life. Two more deaths were recorded on Saturday bringing the toll upto 12 this monsoon.

Power outages continued in the city. It was not only the residential areas that plunged into darkness but also the railway routes - including the northern suburban Chennai Beach-Central-Tiruvallur line - which were left in pitch darkness on Saturday. Power was restored by extending supply from adjacent substations after a while.

Many suburbs of the city like Mudichur in Tambaram, parts of MKB Nagar in North Chennai, Madipakkam in South Chennai and Karapakkam off Porur in Western Chennai went without electricity for several hours.

Several university exams were postponed and the state-level National Talent Search Exam scheduled for Saturday was put off to November 18.

Many more joined the rain-stricken people in the relief centres run by the government.

More IAS officers were asked to join the flood operations in Kancheepuram districts and orders came from the CMO to give the green signal for bringing down buildings that looked like collapsing in the rain.  

The city received 63.3 mm of rain with Numgambakkam receiving 65.8 mm rainfall and Meenambakkam recording 62.0 mm between 8.30 am on Friday and 8.30 am on Saturday.