Heavy rains continue to batter Tamil Nadu, causing a rise in reservoir levels and prompting a red alert. Schools and colleges are closed in several districts as authorities prepare for potential flooding.
Cyclone Ditwah exits Sri Lanka after causing widespread destruction and over 120 deaths, heading towards the Indian coast. Heavy rains and high winds are expected to continue.
Cyclonic storm Fengal has commenced making landfall close to Puducherry and it may approximately take 4 hours for it to cross the coast completely, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said. The process of the cyclone's landfall commenced at about 5.30 pm on November 30. The IMD said the forward sector of spiral bands associated with the cyclone has entered into the land and is likely to move west-southwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram close to Puducherry as a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph during next 3 to 4 hours.
Widespread rains lashed parts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, prompting authorities to declare a holiday for schools in Chennai and many other districts.
A dozen people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in and around Chennai while personnel on fishing boats and farm tractors were engaged in rescuing stranded people on Tuesday.
For the Stalin government to win back the confidence of voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, post-flooding restoration works, their speed and efficacy would be closely watched, and not just by the political Opposition, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
As the storage level touched 3,000 million cubic feet in the Chembarambakkam reservoir as against its full capacity of 3,645 Mcft, authorities on Wednesday began releasing about 1,000 cusecs into the Adyar river as a precautionary measure.
If only you had thought ahead, you would have stocked snacks and biscuits, bread and cake, and vegetables suited for Amma or pondatti to make your favourite bajji and pakoda, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chief Minister M K Stalin inspected several inundated areas here along with top officials including Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu and directed authorities to take swift action to drain flood water.
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary said the flooding was caused by heavy rains in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts.
According to the statement by Tamil Nadu government's chief secretary, sufficient warnings were given to people residing in the vicinity of the river before water from Chembarambakkam tank was released.
The met department said rainfall is very likely at most places in Tamil Nadu, Puduchery and Karaikal with heavy to very heavy showers at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places on Wednesday.
He appealed to Kerala to extend cooperation to store full water in the Mullaiperiyar dam.
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The CM also said that the Parliament Secretariat had issued a circular to the MPs stating that they can allot Rs 1 crore worth renovation and rehabilitation efforts in the flood-affected districts from Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
Subsequently, Nivar weakened into a cyclonic storm and further into a deep depression, centered about 50 km west-southwest of Tirupati at 1430 hrs, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said. According to IMD, it is to weaken into a depression during the next six hours.
Meanwhile, water will be released from Chembarambakkam lake, one of the key drinking water sources to Chennai, since it was nearing capacity, the government said.
Calling herself a "dear sister" of the people, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo said that her thoughts constantly revolved around them.
Extreme rainfall that occurred in Tamil Nadu is "highly localised" and is part of the natural variability of the monsoon system and its attribution to global warming is "not established", the Rajya Sabha was told on Monday.
Chennai on Wednesday turned a virtual island after unprecedented rains in 100 years pounded the city, shutting the airport and rendering thousands homeless.
Hundreds of Chennaiites have taken to the social media platforms such as Twitter to reach out to people who need help, co-ordinate search, rescue and food distribution efforts.
Rains on Friday continued to batter several parts of Tamil Nadu under the influence of an active North-East monsoon as the toll in rain-related incidents in the state stood at 48.
In a minor relief for residents of flood-hit Chennai, the rains have stayed away for the last few hours.
The picture looks no better for Wednesday with the weather office forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall for Tamil Nadu.
S Saraswathi profiles the trauma faced by two families in the Chennai floods.
Govt's focus on 'smart cities' is fine, but basic amenities must be put into place first.
The army and air force have been deployed for rescuing stranded citizens after torrential rains have left residents marooned.
'The first two months of monsoon are not looking good.' 'In case both the halves fail, it is going to be misery.'
Heavy rains on Tuesday pounded several parts of Tamil Nadu with most areas of Chennai witnessing water logging severely disrupting train and bus services.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announces Rs 4 lakh compensation for the kin of dead.
The flood-ravaged city was on Saturday struggling to return to normalcy with partial restoration of telecommunication and train services.
'Coordination between our 50 teams, each with a strength of 45 men, played a key role in rescuing flood-affected people in Chennai. In all, we succeeded in rescuing over 20,000 people.'
Rains will continue to batter Tamil Nadu for the next seven days and the next 48 hours are "very crucial", the IMD has said.
Educational institutions remained closed even as the weather office forecast heavy downpour in the next three days in the state, Puducherry and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
The storage of water in the six major reservoirs in the state was just 6.2 per cent of capacity as of April 27, 2017, reports T E Narasimhan and Gireesh Babu.
The last time Tamil Nadu seriously voted on pre-poll promises was in faraway 1967.
A relatively dry spell in Chennai and its neighbourhood brought relief to the flood affected residents and rescue agencies, as hopes of water receding fast went up.
At ATMs, as a step to avoid getting Rs 2,000 notes, people are withdrawing Rs 1,900 in Rs 100 notes and then putting another request for the balance Rs 600, so that they remain within the limit of Rs 2,500 per day of withdrawal.
'You have to respect nature. You won't respect nature unless you see nature's fury.'
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