IMD officials claim the city has experienced 89% more than normal rainfall this season, its worst ever downpour in the last 100 years; next 48 hrs crucial
Dead end? People gather as floodwaters lap at the end of a highway in Chennai.
New Delhi: Rains will continue to batter Tamil Nadu for the next seven days and the next 48 hours are ‘very crucial’, officials from India Meteorological Department (IMD) said yesterday.
Dead end? People gather as floodwaters lap at the end of a highway in Chennai. pics/pti
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The city turned into a virtual island, while several coastal areas of Tamil Nadu were marooned by floodwaters after unprecedented rains in 100 years pounded the city, its suburbs and neighbouring districts destroying crucial road and rail links, shutting the airport and rendering thousands homeless.
IMD Director General Laxman Singh Rathore attributed the heavy rains to a ‘trough of low’ over Southwest Bay of Bengal off Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka coast, which will continue to bring rains over the next three days. Thereafter, the state will experience an anti-cyclone activity that will be associated with ‘heavy rains’ at some places.
A family wades through water to reach higher grounds for safety
"The phenomenon will continue for the next seven days, but the next 48 hours are very crucial. Neighbouring states will also see rainfall activity," Rathore said.
He added that the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi chaired a high-level meeting with the ‘stake holders’, including officials of National Disaster Management Authority, which was attended by Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary through a videoconference. The IMD also briefed about the weather forecast. A warning has also been issued for coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh (especially Nellore and Chittoor), interior Tamil Nadu and Rayalseema region of Andhra Pradesh.
The period from October to December is referred to as the northeast monsoon season over peninsular India. It is a major period of rainfall activity over the southern peninsula, particularly Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
For Tamil Nadu this is the main rainy season accounting for about 48 per cent of the annual rainfall. Coastal districts of the state get nearly 60 per cent of the annual rainfall and the interior districts about 40-50 per cent of the precipitation. However, this season, Tamil Nadu alone has witnessed 50 per cent excess rainfall by December 1. "Almost all districts of Tamil Nadu have received excess rainfall ranging from 10 to 150 per cent," Rathore said.
In excess
As per IMD data, Chennai has experienced 89 per cent more than normal rainfall this season, while the districts of Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore and Tirunveliveli received 154 per cent, 139 per cent, 136 per cent and 110 per cent have excess precipitation, respectively, so far.
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