Tamil Nadu rain: 3 dead, alert in 4 districts, schools and colleges shut
Three people were killed in southern Tamil Nadu as heavy rainfall continued to pound the region on Tuesday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for today for Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi, the most affected districts in the state.
According to a PTI report, three people were confirmed killed in rain-related incidents while three more were feared dead. Light to moderate rainfall was predicted at isolated places in northern Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, the IMD said.
As many as 39 regions in southern Tamil Nadu witnessed extremely heavy rainfall, the Met Department said.
Paddy fields, roads and bridges were submerged and many residential colonies came under sheets of water due to heavy rainfall for the past few days. Road links were cut off in several places following breaches in lakes and flooding.
Electricity supply was halted in advance due to rain. Mobile phone connectivity was hit in several regions and public transportation was completely affected, severely disrupting normalcy.
According to the weather department, squally weather with wind speeds of 40-45 kilometres per hour gusting to 55 kilometres per hour was likely to prevail along and off the south Tamil Nadu coast, over the Gulf of Mannar, Comorin area, Lakshadweep area and the adjoining southeast Arabian Sea. The weather department has warned fishermen not to venture into the sea at these places for today.
The IMD said Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi district received a whopping 95 cm of rainfall, which was the highest, between 8:30 am to 8:30 pm on Sunday and Monday.
Other places where heavy rainfall occurred during the period was Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district (69 cm), Srivailkuntam in Thoothukudi district (62 cm), Moolaikaraipatti in Tirunelveli district (62 cm) and Manjolai (55 cm).
In Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Kanyakumari districts, 7,434 people have been shifted to 84 relief centres. A total of 425 disaster response team members have been deployed to assist people in flood-affected regions in the state.
Meanwhile, a holiday has been declared in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts. Schools and colleges have been shut in Kanyakumari and Tenkasi districts.
The storage in major dams and reservoirs in southern Tamil Nadu ranged between 80 and 100 per cent on Monday following heavy rainfall, the government said. While the storage in Manimuthar dam was 83.10 per cent, it was 89.54 per cent and 80.73 per cent in Papanasam and Servalar dams respectively, an official release said.