‘Fengal’ brings heavy rains to Tamil Nadu, flyovers become parking lots

What began as intermittent rainfall in coastal regions on the night of November 29, gradually became steady leading to water logging in several areas

Chennai: Normal life came to a halt as heavy rains, accompanied by gusty winds, lashed parts of northern Tamil Nadu on Saturday. Meanwhile, the cyclonic storm, Fengal, expected to make landfall near Puducherry later in the day, continued moving towards the coast.

What began as intermittent rainfall in coastal regions on the night of November 29, gradually became steady leading to water logging in several areas and many residents of low-lying Madipakkam parked their vehicles on both sides of nearby Velachery flyover.

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Residents of similar vulnerable areas too parked their vehicles in safe areas. Roads were largely deserted and civic workers, police, and fire and rescue personnel were deployed in all vulnerable places.

Departure and arrival schedule of flights were affected to some extent. Chennai Metro Rail said its services were operational without any glitches and informed public of parking areas in specific stations that were prone to inundation. State-run transport corporations operated skeleton services in Chennai and nearby areas.

As the sea was pretty rough, police put up barricades blocking access to noted beaches including the Marina and Mamallapuram. State-run Aavin milk supply was not affected and power supply continued to be normal in most areas.

The government had already declared November 30 a holiday for educational institutions and requested IT firms to make their employees work from home.