Barricades and umbrellas were swept away by gusty winds and road users scurried for cover as rain poured, with cyclone Fengal inching closer to the shoreline on Saturday, leaving many areas in and around Chennai under water.
Curiously, a lot of people, especially young men and women, frolicked at beaches, and strangely, visitors could be spotted at the Mamallapuram world heritage site too, despite the government warning people against going near beaches, in view of the high tides. Wind speed was pretty high in coastline areas such as Marakkanam in Villupuram district
Rainwater entered the premises of two state-run hospitals at Chromepet, a general hospital and a facility for thoracic medicine, both of which are located alongside, and frequented by people.
Water was close to the level of one’s ankle even inside the hospital, leaving health care seekers and doctors in a tight spot. Police and local authorities placed sandbags at entry points and said all steps were being taken to address the issue.
Barricades could be seen strewn around on several roads, including Anna Salai, and a traffic light fell down at Sriperumbudur.
Several residential neighbourhoods were heavily inundated here. These included parts of Korattur, Velachery-Madipakkam and Kodungaiyur. Rain water entered houses in suburban localities, such as the Hasthinapuram—Tirumalai Nagar, and residents had to place even refrigerators and washing machines on cots to prevent them from getting damaged.
In a rain-related incident, a migrant worker who tried to withdraw cash from an ATM here, was reportedly electrocuted.
Public transportation services were hit and people used flyovers and spaces beneath them as parking lots to avoid a repeat of what was endured during the 2015 floods. In view of the rains and copious inflows, reservoirs such as Chembarambakkam looked like an ocean.
Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) authorities said 22,000 personnel including engineers, officials and sanitary workers were on the job. A total of 1,686 motor pumps of various capacities including 25-hp and 100-hp were in use.
As many as 484 tractor-mounted heavy-duty pumps and 137 pumps of 100-hp capacity have been deployed. The GCC said work was on in a ‘war-footing’ to clear waterlogging in 134 spots and out of the 9 trees that fell, 5 have been cleared.
Chennai airport suspends operations; airlines cancel flights
Operations at the Chennai airport were suspended on Saturday due to gusty winds and heavy rain caused by the cyclone, resulting in multiple flight cancellations and impacting hundreds of passengers.
Parts of the airport were inundated due to the heavy rain.
“In light of Cyclonic Storm ‘Fengal’ and the forecasted high crosswinds, as predicted by IMD, Chennai Airport operations will be suspended from 1230 hrs to 1900 hrs on 30.11.2024 (Today) following safety concerns raised by stakeholder airlines. We recommend passengers check with their respective airlines regarding their flights,” Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a post on X.
IndiGo, in a post on X at 6.06 pm, said the weather in Chennai has not improved, and flights to/from the city continue to stay impacted. “We are constantly monitoring the situation as we work to keep you informed,” it added.
Earlier in the day, the airline said all flights to/from the city have been cancelled.
IndiGo operates more than 120 daily direct flights to 38 domestic and 11 international destinations.
“Due to the impact of #CycloneFengal in #Chennai, flights operating to the city are being diverted. Our crew and airport teams are dedicated to providing all possible support & assistance during this time,” the carrier said in a post at 1.11 pm.
At 9.23 am, Air India said in a post on X that flights to and from Chennai are getting affected due to inclement weather and heavy rains.
SpiceJet, in a post at 11.24 am on X, said due to bad weather in Chennai, all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might be affected.
There were gusty winds and heavy downpour in the city, disrupting normal life.
