Chennai battered by heavy rains, army deployed for rescue
Tamil Nadu reels under severe rains
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has responded to the worst rains in Chennai in nearly a 100 years.
The government has set up a flood helpline (1913) and has deployed 2 columns of the Army with 4 NDRF teams. Massive operations are already underway in Tambaram and Urapakkam. Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Cuddalore are the worst hit districts and Nungambakkam, the posh area in South-Central Chennai has recorded 17 cm of rain.
Heavy downpour shuts down Chennai airport
“Operations at Chennai airport stopped due to safety reasons till 11 pm. Runway, taxiway and adjoining areas are flooded,” says Deepak Shashtri, Chennai Airport Director.
“The airport was functional and operated flights until 20:15pm,” he adds.
Chennai Corporation has announced Emergency Contact Numbers for all the regional zones in the city. People can contact the following numbers in case of any emergency due to the floods.
Tree fall, Waterlogging – 1913
Sewage overflow – 45674567, 22200335
State Emergency – 1070
District Emergency – 1077
Electricity – 1912
Fire & Rescue -101
The govt. has started releasing 20,000 cubic feet per second of water from Chembarambakkam reservoir, the highest volume of outflow in several years. This is the highest volume of outflow from the reservoir in several years. On November 17, a day after the city received over 25 centimetres of rainfall, Public Works Department released 18,000 cusecs of water from the reservoir. As the death toll in rain-related incidents touched 188, Chief Minister Jayalalithaaa reviewed the situation and deputed ministers to inspect the affected regions.
