However, the dark the sky has threatened more downpours.
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“There will be no respite”, Laxman Singh Rathore of the India Meteorological Department told reporters Wednesday.
By late morning, state capital Chennai had seen little or no rain for nearly 24 hours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has blamed climate change for the deluge, traveled to Chennai to get a first-hand view of a rescue effort that has so far been halting.
Even as the weather cleared, waters rose in many residential areas, fed by spills from 35 lakes that have risen to risky levels.
Dr. A. Ramachandran’s Diabetes Hospital was running out of oxygen for patients and diesel for power generators, he said by telephone.
IT offices, a major part of the city’s business hub, offered employees the option to work from home.
Chennai city remained virtually cut off from the rest of the country with air, rail and road transport services continued to be suspended while public transport was crippled because of flooding of arterial main roads, including the Mount Road over the Marmalong bridge. Authorities later made a decision to close the airport until December 6.
The Indian Air Force have readied to evacuate stranded passengers from Chennai airport. “All of us here are getting agitated because none of the hotels nearby are vacant”.
IAF sorties also began reconnaissance trips, dropping food packets for those stranded.
“The entire state machinery has collapsed”.
He said over 100 boats, 22 divers, 445 life jackets and 328 buoys have been pressed in by the force and more such rescue items are being dispatched. “It’s a very frustrating situation”, said a home ministry official, requesting anonymity.
Environmentalists said haphazard construction by a corrupt administration, faulty drainage and a rubbish pileup exacerbated the flooding.
The Andhra Pradesh government assured Tamil Nadu that it would look into its demand of reducing the outflow from Pichatur and other dams in Chittoor district as the excess outflow of water is likely to flood neighbouring Thiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu. No flight has landed or taken off from Chennai airport since Monday. We have not received any news on the casualties of the stranded in flood-hit Chennai.
With civil communication and Mobile Towers out of Communication in critical areas of Chennai, the Army is resorting to radio communication for coordinating rescue operations and has also successfully re-established communication at some essential locations.
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Going into details about the rescue operations planned, Singh said around 20 more teams will be deployed, totalling the teams to 50 in the flooded state as the operations intensify. Twitter and other social media were flooded with calls for help from across the city.
