The rains, the heaviest in 100 years, are being blamed on climate change and many in Chennai say the city needs to prepare better to face extreme weather patterns, our correspondent says.
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Supplies of safe drinking water, milk and newspapers were slowly improving and the local transport services were picking up. JAYA THANKS ODISHA, BIHAR Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today thanked her Odisha and Bihar counterparts, Naveen Patnaik and Nitish Kumar, for their governments’ contribution of Rs 5 crore each to her state for flood relief.
The Southern Railway has announced special trains to Tirunelveli, Rameswaram and Howrah from Chennai Beach station in a bid to clear the large number of train travellers who have got stranded in the city.
He made an aerial survey of the worst-affected areas in order to strategise additional measures and efforts required.
There was relief as water levels in the main reservoirs and rivers began to fall.
The death of 18 patients at a private hospital added to the official toll of 280 confirmed killed in the flooding disaster.
In November, Chennai reported more 40 inches of rain, more than three times the normal rainfall that is expected for the entire month, according to AccuWeather.
With system moving westwards, rains will now increase over Kerala and Karnataka and they may receive light to moderate rain during next 24 hours.
By next morning, the situation had deteriorated severely, leading to submergence of the entire operational area in approximately seven feet of water. Residents were plucked from the rooftops of their marooned homes by helicopters and boats following the devastating floods which officials said were caused by the worst rains in a century. In carrying out, the relief and rescue operations for affected people by the heavy rains in Chennai there at the base navy officers play a key role.
The US Consulate General was closed on Thursday and Friday.
The force already has 30 teams, with 40 personnel in each, working in the flood-hit areas of the Tamil Nadu capital and adjoining Puducherry.
She said teams were cleaning up residential areas to avoid a disease outbreak as authorities distributed water purifying chlorine tablets. “Tamil Nadu government will hold a meeting with telecom service providers to sort out the issues”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised $150m (£99m) to the flood-hit Tamil Nadu state.
Schools, colleges and offices in Chennai have been forced to close and exams have been postponed.
Thousands of people were rescued earlier in the week in a massive operation by the Indian army and disaster management teams.
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Rejecting criticism, he said various departments of the state government had put in “extraordinary” efforts to ensure that every affected person was attended to and ensure that nobody was left out in the process.
