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In the aftermath of Cyclone Michaung, heavy rain and severe floods have submerged roads and uprooted trees in Chennai in southern India. An estimated 13 people have died since the cyclone broke out in Andhra Pradesh state on Tuesday afternoon.
Cyclone Michaung battered the coast of Andhra Pradesh state on Tuesday, with parts of the state hit by winds sustaining 55-60 miles per hour, according to India’s national weather agency.
Local media showed footage of rescuers using inflatable rafts and boats, wading through waist-deep water to save affected people in Chennai, a city of 6 million people and a hub for major automobile and technology manufacturing.
Residents have faced challenges as waterlogged streets and roads in central Chennai districts, including Teynampet, Kodambakkam, West Mambalam and Arumbakkan, disrupted residents’ ability to access drinking water and other essentials.
Converging media reports have indicated that floods have cut power lines and electricity, leaving residents without electricity between Monday morning and Tuesday evening in West Mambalam.
The extreme winds and rains have swept cars in the floodwaters, and the runway at Andhra Pradesh’s airport was submerged, canceling 40 flights and 140 trains until Tuesday morning.
“There are pockets of low lying areas,” said Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner Dr J Radhakirshnan. “We hope to clear it soon.”
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The extensive floods in Chennai are a reminder of the severe damage wrought by floods in Tamil Nadu in 2015, which killed 290 people.
Residents’ concerns over the strength of the city’s infrastructure to cope under the extreme weather persist, and State Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for 50.6 billion rupees for the damage.
Raj Bhagat P, a civil engineer and geo-analytics expert said that better stormwater drainage systems in the city would not have prevented flooding.
“This solution would have helped a lot in moderate and heavy rainfall, but not in very heavy and extremely heavy rains,” he said.
Electricity has been restored in places, as water is being drained in phases along the main streets and subsequently interior roads and homes, said Ezhilan Naganathan, from Thousand Lights MLA. He noted that the exceptionally heavy rainfall over the last 24 hours delayed draining the streets, as a result of overflowing water in canals and drains.
The local governments are actively providing relief measures, with the relocation of up to 500 families into shelters in areas such as Corporation Colony and Tamil Nadu Urban Habit Board settlements, Naganthan told The Hindu.
