Deluged Chennai cries for help as airport flooded, trains stop, phones out

TNN & Agencies | Dec 3, 2015, 04.50 AM IST

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Vehicle moves on the watter lodged road during heavy rains in Chennai. (PTI photo)

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• CHENNAI: There was no let up to the rain fury in the city and several coastal parts of Tamil Nadu. The city received 34.5cm rain in the past 24 hours. Met officials said the state hasn't been lashed by such a downpour in 100 years. Road and and rail links are down and the airport is flooded.

Complaints of patchy to poor mobile phone service have been coming in making it even more difficult for people elsewhere to get in touch with their near ones.


Essential supplies and ration have dried up and with the water level consistently rising, many have taken refuge on terraces. Along the banks of the Adyar river, flood waters have touched the second floor of housing board colonies. Till last reports came in, the death toll had reached 251.

AT THE AIRPORT: With the airport tarmac under water, all flights remained suspended on Wednesday. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the airport will remain shut till December 6.

On Wednesday, lounges at the airport were packed with hundreds of stranded passengers and TV reports said AAI was trying to evacuate them to Tirupati and Bengaluru.

Making matters worse, the road from the city to the airport was badly damaged. A prominent businesswoman tweeted how more than 700 people were held up at the terminal and one Twitter user even offered accommodation to the stuck passengers at her home.

In New Delhi, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the airport was crippled and a decision on resuming operations could be taken only after rain stopped.

The National Disaster Relief Force that has so far deployed 10 teams in Tamil Nadu will rush in 600 more personnel and 40 inflatable boats. As Chennai airport is flooded, it was decided that the airfields of Arakkonam, Tirupati, Tambaram and Trichy will be utilized for the operations," said an official.