Chennai witnessed its first spell of Northeast Monsoon rain on Saturday night, recording an average rainfall of 15.78 cm. The Regional Meteorological Centre has forecast very heavy rainfall in Chennai and neighbouring areas on October 18.
The Tamil Nadu government has announced the contact numbers of zonal officials in Chennai for residents to report waterlogging complaints. As a precautionary measure, the state government has also established 220 relief camps and 110 community kitchens in Chennai.
The RMC also clarified that the rainfall resulted from organised, widespread convective activity associated with the cyclonic circulation, rather than an isolated, highly localised cloudburst event. Following rainfall of around 15 cm in less than 24 hours, several low-lying areas were inundated. Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre said Chennai experienced heavy to very heavy rainfall, with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, on the night of October 17. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy rainfall at isolated places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on October 18 and 19.
However, officials said water was drained using motor pumps after the rain stopped. Officials said the Tamil Nadu government was prepared to handle worst-case scenarios and manage the Northeast Monsoon.
