Heavy rain and thunderstorm hit Chennai and its neighbouring areas on Thursday, uprooting trees and causing water-logging in several places, The Hindu reported. The fresh spell was the heaviest one-day rain recorded by the city in October since 2014, according to The Times of India.
Photos on social media showed residents in Pattalam, Mylapore and Egmore areas wading through the flooded streets with umbrellas in their hands.
A video shared by ANI showed vehicles moving on a flooded road in the city.
More visuals showed flooding in residential areas. The Greater Chennai Corporation said that 10 areas in the city were flooded this time, as against 851 places in 2014 and 306 in 2017, according to The Indian Express.
In Nandanam area, the rain and storm caused severe damage to parked cars.
The Meteorological Department said that Chennai will continue to receive heavy rain over the next few days, according to The Hindu. S Balachandran, the deputy director of meteorology in Chennai, told newspaper that “an upper air circulation over southwest Bay of Bengal, off the north Tamil Nadu coast” caused the lighting and thunderstorm. He added that the rain was triggered by moist northeasterly wind.
Chennai’s Mylapore area received 17.8 centimetres of rain, which was the heaviest in the city, The Indian Express reported.
As of 8.30 am, Nungambakkam area recorded nearly 13 centimetres of rain, according to The Hindu. Weather stations in Meenambakkam (5 centimetres), Ennore (8 centimetres), Satyabama University (6 centimetres), Red Hills (13 centimetres) and Anna University (13.4 centimetres) registered moderate to heavy rain.
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