Barricades and umbrellas were swept away by gusty winds and road users scurried for cover as rains 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 side by side 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 at 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 and 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.
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