Heavy to very heavy rains pounded Chennai and the suburbs on Thursday, inundating roads and subways, and three persons were killed in rain-related incidents here.

Three persons (two women and a boy) died of electrocution here, the Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, KKSSR Ramachandran said.

Road congestion

It was a repeat of scenes witnessed here last month as motorists struggled to manoeuvre their vehicles on flooded roads and subways while showers led to traffic congestion in the city and suburbs.

The intense spell may turn out to be one of the heaviest witnessed in recent years as three subways were closed and traffic moved at a snail’s pace in at least 14 arterial city thoroughfares.

Also see: Sudden rains lash Chennai; city comes to a standstill due to heavy water-logging

The Greater Chennai Corporation said that over 145 pumps were used to de-clog inundated locations.

Metro-rail authorities said services were extended by an hour from 11 pm on in view of the sudden rains to help passengers reach their destinations safely.

High rainfall

Most areas in the city and suburbs began receiving rainfall — heavy to very heavy in several locations — starting from noon yesterday.

According to the India Meterological Department (IMD), highest rainfall of 17.65 cm was recorded in MRC Nagar here. Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 14.65 cm and 10 cm, respectively.

In other areas, including those falling under neighbouring Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, the showers ranged from 1 cm (Madhavaram) to 10 cm (Nandanam). The rainfall data was recorded between 8:30 am and 6:15 pm yesterday.

Isolated heavy to very rainfall activity is likely to continue over north coastal Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas of south coastal Andhra Pradesh during next three days, and decrease thereafter, the IMD said.

Amateur theorising

Weather enthusiasts made various claims on social media vis-a-vis the intensity of rains — one claimed Thursday’s rains in Chennai were the heaviest for a single day in the month of December after 2015.

IMD officials, however, did not confirm such claims. They said a conclusion could only be arrived at after looking into actual rainfall for the 24-hour period and following a scrutiny of previous data.

Also see: Climate-related risks pose potential losses of $1.2-4.7 trillion to Asia-Pacific: UN-ESCAP

Enthusiast Pradeep John (Tamil Nadu Weatherman) tweeted, “Mylapore crosses 200 mm. One of the craziest spells of lifetime. Chennai City (Nungambakkam) beats 2015 annual rainfall.”

In another tweet, he said, “2015 annual rainfall is overtaken by 2021 & is the 3rd wettest year of all time behind 2005 & 1996.”

According to the weather office, the presence of ‘convective cells’ led to rainfall.

A weather forecast by the IMD (issued 12:30 hours on December 30) had said, “Thunderstorm with moderate rain is likely to occur at a few places over coastal Tamil Nadu. Thunderstorm with moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over Villupuram, Cuddalore and Delta districts, Puducherry and Karaikal. Light rain is also likely to occur at isolated places over Interior Tamil Nadu districts.”

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