Heavy overnight rain batters Chennai as Northeast monsoon gets active in Tamil Nadu

As the Northeast monsoon intensified in its first week itself, Chennai was battered by extremely heavy rainfall on Saturday night, with many areas receiving more than 20 cm of rain, leading to flooding of several localities and arterial roads.

The government machinery worked through the night to clear the stagnant water, which receded from most places by Sunday morning.

According to the Greater Chennai Corporation’s data, Parrys recorded the maximum of 36 cm of rain, followed by Kathivakkam with 34.4 cm. Six places, including Meenambakkam (28.5 cm), Chennai Central (27.4 cm), Ennore (21.5 cm), and Tiruvottiyur (22.4 cm), received extremely heavy rainfall. Another 17 places recorded very heavy rainfall (11.5 cm-20.4 cm).

While there was a buzz on social media that there was a cloud burst, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said a cloudburst was conventionally described as an event in which 100 mm or more of rainfall occurred within one hour in a small area. Such intense rainfall was generally associated with deep convective clouds and could lead to rapid surface run-off, waterlogging, and urban flooding, it said.

Based on the prevailing meteorological conditions and the observed rainfall pattern associated with the cyclonic circulation, the rainfall in Chennai and its neighbourhood appears to have resulted from organised, widespread convective activity associated with the cyclonic circulation, rather than an isolated, highly localised cloudburst event, the IMD clarified.

On Sunday afternoon, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay visited the Integrated Command and Control Centre in the Ripon Buildings, reviewed the preparedness, and appreciated the officials for their tireless work over two days. He urged officials of all the departments to work in a coordinated manner in the coming days.