Heavy rain in Madurai causes flooding, distress among residents
Oct 23, 2024
Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 23 : Continuous heavy rainfall in Madurai on Wednesday has resulted in severe flooding, with water from the overflowing Pandalkodi canal entering residential areas. Residents are facing significant hardship due to the deluge in the city.
The city is severely flooded as a consequence of the intense rain, as shown in the drone footage.
Tamil Nadu is currently experiencing intense northeast monsoon rains, which have caused extensive damage in both Chennai and Madurai.
Last week, Chennai suffered widespread flooding, and on Tuesday, Madurai experienced uninterrupted rainfall for an hour, leading to severe waterlogging in several areas.
The affected regions include Wards 24 and 27 of the Madurai Corporation, specifically Kattabomman Nagar, Vanchinathan Street, Periyar Veedi, Bhosveedi, and Kamarajar Street.
Over 6,000 residents are struggling as floodwaters, rising to knee-deep levels, have inundated homes in low-lying areas, making it difficult for residents to navigate the flooded streets. The situation remains critical.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast very heavy rainfall for the state. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has announced that a low-pressure area over the east-central Bay of Bengal is likely to develop into a cyclonic storm, 'Dana', by October 23. This storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall to several districts of Tamil Nadu.
In addition, heavy rainfall has been predicted for other states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Rayalaseema, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Gangetic West Bengal.
On October 19, heavy rain in Chennai brought daily life to a standstill, disrupting major services in the city. On October 17, several areas of Chennai recorded extremely heavy rainfall until 8:30 am.
Kathivakkam and Manali registered 23 cm and 21 cm of rainfall, respectively, while Cholavaram recorded 30 cm, Red Hills 28 cm, and Avadi 25 cm. The depression over the west-central and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moved west-northwest at a speed of 14 km per hour and crossed the north Tamil Nadu-south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Nellore, near latitude 13.5 N and longitude 80.2 E, at around 4:30 am on October 17.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inspected rain-affected areas in Chennai's Kolathur Assembly Constituency and distributed relief materials. Stalin stated, "The Tamil Nadu Government is prepared to handle any situation. Precautionary measures have been implemented across the state."
