Chennai on orange alert as Ditwah triggers heavy rains, floods in city
Heavy rains from Cyclone Ditwah led to 18 flight cancellations in Chennai, school closures, and emergency responses amid severe flooding.
As many as 18 domestic flights were cancelled at the Chennai airport owing to heavy rains triggered by the remnants of Cyclone Ditwah on Tuesday.
The Chennai airport authorities posted on X of the list of cancellations and added, “Passengers are requested to check with the airline for updates.”
Schools and colleges in Chennai were closed on Tuesday. The Greater Chennai Corporation had 107 boats on standby to rescue civilians in low-lying areas and shelter them in relief centres.
The city remained on orange alert throughout the day. On Tuesday, several parts of Chennai recorded extremely heavy rainfall — Ennore (26 cm), Parrys (25 cm), Ice House (22 cm), Manali New Town and Ponneri (21 cm).
Several arterial roads and subways across Chennai were affected, throwing traffic out of gear. Officials waded through ankle-deep water to inspect several localities.
At least 300 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 50 personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are on standby in Chennai.
A total of 1,496 motor pumps of various capacities, including 170 100Hp motor pumps and 550 tractor-mounted pumps, are ready to discharge rainwater from rainwater harvesting areas in 15 zones under the Greater Chennai Corporation.
The Greater Chennai police said that 48 trees had fallen across the city on December 1, which were removed and they had rescued 10 people who were living in low lying areas and brought them to the civic body’s shelters.
The Depression (Remnant of Cyclonic Storm Ditwah) over southwest Bay of Bengal, north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and South Andhra Pradesh coasts moved slowly south with the speed of 3 kmph at 8.30am about 40 km east of Chennai, 120 km northeast of Puducherry, 140 km northeast of Cuddalore and 190 km south of Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore, said the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
