Chennai Faces Fresh Rain Alert as Crews Clear Waterlogged Roads
Chennai faced a fresh warning of extremely heavy rain on October 18 while municipal crews worked to clear waterlogging left by the previous night’s downpour. The Regional Meteorological Centre issued a red alert for the 24 hours beginning Sunday afternoon, according to a PTI report carried by DT Next.
The report recorded 36 centimetres at Parry’s Corner and 34 centimetres at Kathivakkam in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. These were readings at individual locations, rather than a uniform rainfall total across the city.
Orange alerts also covered neighbouring Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, as well as Nilgiris, Coimbatore and Theni. The forecast meant that the clearance of earlier flooding did not remove the possibility of renewed disruption.
Clearance work and relief
The Greater Chennai Corporation said all 22 subways had been cleared and reopened by 6 a.m. It reported no casualties or major accidents and said nine relief centres had been established. Those statements describe the corporation’s assessment at the time of its release, rather than an independently verified final account of the storm’s effects.
TV9 Tamil separately reported waterlogging in parts of Royapettah, north Chennai, Velachery, Tambaram and Kilambakkam. Some streets had knee-deep water, making travel difficult for pedestrians and motorists. Pumps, generators and tractors were used in the clearance effort, the report said.
Commissioner G. S. Sameeran said water had been removed from 273 locations by the morning. He also reported that nine fallen trees had been cleared. TV9’s account attributed the provision of breakfast to 13,500 people to the corporation. Such operational figures can change as teams complete work and receive further reports.
The report identified 1913 as the corporation’s control-room number for waterlogging complaints and requests for assistance. Residents in vulnerable locations were being monitored as further rain remained possible.
Rescue capacity reinforced
A separate DT Next report said three National Disaster Response Force teams, comprising 90 personnel, were dispatched from the force’s 4th Battalion near Arakkonam. The deployment followed a request from the Tamil Nadu Disaster Management Department and was described as a precaution against flooding and other rain-related emergencies.
Each team consisted of 30 personnel. Their positioning was intended to allow a faster response in vulnerable areas if conditions worsened. This was a preparedness measure; deployment alone does not indicate how many people required rescue.
The accounts show two operations taking place together: removing the water and debris already disrupting the city, and preparing for another spell. For commuters, an earlier report that a road had reopened could not guarantee its condition during later rainfall. Local warnings and instructions from officials on the ground remained the relevant guide for travel.
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