Karaikal and Nagapattinam received extremely heavy rainfall on the intervening night on November 9 and 10, with Nagapattinam receiving 245 mm of rainfall and Karaikal seeing 272 mm till 5.30 am on November 10. Chennai received some respite, with the city seeing 14.7 mm rainfall till the same time period. Incessant rains are expected to continue in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, with heavy rainfall warnings given for several districts in Tamil Nadu as well as in Puducherry and Karaikal.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall over isolated places has been forecast for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts by the Indian Meteorological Department in its bulletin at 3.45 am. There is a heavy to very heavy rainfall
Thunderstorm with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy fall at isolated places has been forecast by the IMD for Villupuram, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram and Sivagangai districts of Tamil Nadu as well as for, Puducherry and Karaikal.
The impact of this, the IMD said, would be that low lying areas will be marooned, severe damage to crops, uprooting of trees, settlements being damaged, water levels increasing in water bodies, inland/riverine flooding and damage to cattle.
A red warning has been issued for Villupuram, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Pudukottai, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram and Thiruvarur and Thanjavur, which will be applicable from 8.30 am on November 10 till 8.30 am on November 11.
As per the IMD’s rainfall warning for Chennai, moderate rainfall could be expected in Guindy, Mambalam, Mylapore, Purasawalkam, Tondiarpet. The low pressure area over Bay of Bengal is very likely to concentrate into a depression soon and bring widespread rainfall across Tamil Nadu for the next couple of days, the IMD had said on Tuesday.
Starting from morning and till 9.30 pm on November 9, Karaikkal recorded about 20 cm and Nagapattinam approximately 15 cm and "rains may continue in such regions," an official told PTI. Chennai and nearby northern regions mostly experienced light to moderate rainfall till Tuesday night. Waterlogging, however, continued in Chennai and in the suburbs in the wake of heavy rains from the night of November 6 till Monday.
While the reservoirs here are almost full, the surplus rain water continued to be released and since the Mettur Dam in Salem District has inched close to its full capacity of 120 feet, a direction has been issued to let out excess inflow, an official release said.
Poondi, Puzhal, Cholavaram and Chembarambakkam lakes are the key drinking water sources for Chennai city and these are almost full in view of downpour in catchment areas. The Thervai Kandigai reservoir, also near Chennai, has touched its full level of 36.61 feet.
"Steps have been taken to release surplus water taking into consideration the inflow and the safety of dams," Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said. In view of the advisory, the government declared holiday for schools and colleges on November 10 and 11 in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai districts.
Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan in a tweet said the Governor R N Ravi has, "urged the people of Tamil Nadu to remain alert and take precautionary measures in view of heavy rain prediction by IMD in the next few days. In affected areas people may avoid non-essential movements and pre-empt untoward incidents."
A bulletin by the meteorological department said that under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal, a low pressure has formed over the same region on Tuesday morning.
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With inputs from PTI