Heavy rain lashed northern Tamil Nadu and flooded several parts of Chennai as severe Cyclone Murasu moved towards the south Andhra Pradesh coast, news agency Press Trust of India reported.Some flights at Chennai airport were cancelled on Monday because of adverse weather. Passengers were advised to contact their airlines for further information and assistance.
The India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert for Chennai, while schools in the city were closed for the day.Several parts of Chennai, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts have received torrential rain since Sunday night. In the past 24 hours, Madhavaram recorded 11 cm of rain, while Ennore Port and Nungambakkam recorded 10 cm each, an official told PTI.An orange alert indicates very heavy rainfall of between 11 cm and 20 cm.
Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner GS Sameeran said there was no major flooding, though some areas had reported minor water stagnation. He oversaw the civic body's operation to pump out water from inundated areas."Out of 22 subways in the city, two faced a minor waterlogging issue, and the water was soon cleared for traffic," Sameeran told reporters on Monday, according to PTI.
He said all subways remained open to traffic. The authorities deployed pumps to clear waterlogged areas, while corporation field teams with backup motors were stationed at vulnerable locations.Sameeran was also coordinating with the Chennai Police Commissioner to manage traffic and guard against possible wave surges or coastal flooding.The corporation said 28 monitoring stations across Chennai recorded heavy rain and five recorded very heavy rain, mainly in northern areas such as Parrys and Manali.
No location reported extremely heavy or unmanageable rainfall. Teams remained on alert to clear water from affected areas.According to the IMD, Cyclone Murasu over the west-central and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwestwards at 20 kmph over six hours and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm.At 2.30 am on Monday, it was about 260 km east-northeast of Chennai, 290 km east-southeast of Nellore, 320 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam, 310 km east-southeast of Kavali, 330 km southeast of Ongole and 470 km south of Visakhapatnam."It is very likely to continue to move northwestwards and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed of 100 to 110 kmph gusting 120 kmph between Nellore and Narsapur close to Ongole during midnight of November 2 to early hours of November 3," the IMD said.Sources said weather conditions over north coastal Tamil Nadu brought widespread rain on Sunday night.- Ends