Chennai floods

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 04 Dec 2015 18:28

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ramana wrote:Is Cooum canal flushed finally?
https://twitter.com/musicaltrees/status ... 1456330752
She leads. She wills. She will.
She bleeds. She spells. She will

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 04 Dec 2015 18:35

Kotturpuram was always a low lying area which gets flooded even in a regular thunderstorm.
Heard the rains are back in Chennai. Heavy rains are expected between Sunday and Tuesday.
Before this, most of the places in Central Chennai the water had drained, hopefully this spell should not be as severe as the last one.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 04 Dec 2015 18:36

LokeshC wrote:I wonder if even massa style drainage would have saved Chennai from this deluge. Stay safe my TN biraders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjO919_7Zus

think again

Sridhar K · Post by **Sridhar K** » 04 Dec 2015 18:45

The flooding in Guduvanchery was due to miscreants breaking the lake bunds, resulting in 3 deaths. The culprit surrendered themselves and they broke it because the excess water discharging from the lake was flooding his factory and he wanted to prevent damage to his costly machinary. We almost lost my friend and his family. The bunds were broken at dusk and gave no hope for people to escape

prahaar · Post by **prahaar** » 04 Dec 2015 18:58

krishGAgain wrote:Not sure about where the video is from....Description says this was near Chembarrambakkam Lake. People were stuck inside the house.

On Twitter someone said this video is from some other occasion and location.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 04 Dec 2015 19:22

THIS is the spirit of Chennai, alive and well

Respect.

Vasu
‏@vasudevan_k
Our milkman delivering milk this morning. In waist deep water. Such selfless service. #chennairains

RETWEETS 120 LIKES 83

4:49 AM - 2 Dec 2015

edit Added later -- another tribute.

Ramanathan S ‏@madarassi Dec 1
Our milk lady Radha in Chennai - been delivering for 25 years, and did not fail to show up this morning.

3,281 retweets 2,174 likes

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 04 Dec 2015 19:24

Several SUVs filled with supplies have left from my apartment building, with more to leave tomorrow night. Very very nice to see people from different parts of India coming together to help. Goosebumps onlee.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 04 Dec 2015 19:38

Comer wrote:Several SUVs filled with supplies have left from my apartment building, with more to leave tomorrow night. Very very nice to see people from different parts of India coming together to help. Goosebumps onlee.

coordinated effort by ordinary citizens from many areas in bangalore. Lots of supplies dispatched. more on he way

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 04 Dec 2015 20:59

Tamil Nadu govt refuses Rs 5 crore assistance offered by Karnataka: Report

The refusal may raise eyebrows as the Karnakata government has challenged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in the ₹66 crore disproportionate assets (DA) case in the Supreme Court, which has posted the hearing in February.

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 04 Dec 2015 21:29

chetak wrote:
Comer wrote:Several SUVs filled with supplies have left from my apartment building, with more to leave tomorrow night. Very very nice to see people from different parts of India coming together to help. Goosebumps onlee.
coordinated effort by ordinary citizens from many areas in bangalore. Lots of supplies dispatched. more on he way

Yup, apparently there are points in different areas of the city where people can contribute, which will be sent by trucks to Chennai. So the cars from my apartment could very well be going to these drop off place than going all the way.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 04 Dec 2015 21:35

ramana wrote: For relief!

The scowl on the guy's face says it all. Shameless AIADMK politicians. She is the Queen, and they just cannot get together to throw her out. Probably because each one is a crab trying to ensure the other guy is not the winner. The same symptom plaguing Congress.

To her credit, she rammed RWH in Madras. Draconian rule hers, but one hopes she got up on the right side of the bed. Sometimes she will force her way through no one else can.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 04 Dec 2015 21:43

folks, the weather reports 100% from Sun night to Tue night next week. This is severe.

these politicians would be the only ones be happy for more rains.. more aid seeking means more money to syphon off!

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 04 Dec 2015 22:08

prahaar wrote:
krishGAgain wrote:Not sure about where the video is from....Description says this was near Chembarrambakkam Lake. People were stuck inside the house.
On Twitter someone said this video is from some other occasion and location.

The description is wrong. It is from Jordan and about a year old.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 04 Dec 2015 22:22

ArmenT wrote:One of my friends and his family and neighbors got rescued this morning after spending the last few days in the upper floor of his apt. complex. Ground floor was flooded, no electricity, no fresh water, 15 people and a dog in the first floor. He was making posts every few hours trying to get someone to send a boat and their phones were all running low. Rescue boats in his area were non-existent, because they seem to have their hands full in other parts of the city (he's in the Pallikaranai area). Finally, his friend from primary school and another guy managed to get some rescuers sent their way. As he posted later, it wasn't the police, army, navy or fire department that came to their aid, but some local fishermen in two private boats, which came all the way from Marina beach!

He says water is about 8 feet deep in the Balaji dental college area. One boat dropped them off in a small dry area and went back to pick up more residents, while the other boat carried the elderly, mothers and children further on. The rest walked onwards in waist deep water until they got to a larger dry area, from which everyone took vehicles (tempo, auto etc.) to their final destinations.

Said friend and his SHQ couldn't sleep last night remembering the hundreds of people stranded, while they had sailed out in rented boats. This morning, they called up the fishermen and rehired the same boats that they were rescued in yesterday, went door-to-door and collected about 200 food packets, cooked a bunch more and then headed out back to their locality. On the way, they met a couple of guys that had about 1000 packets of food, but didn't know where to donate it. So they combined and went to their area and spent the next 4 hours going to the deep water areas and distributing food/water. Apparently, there are still some places in their area where the water is around 6-8 feet and people can't leave their houses. They were done distributing their stuff late in the afternoon when a Navy truck showed up with more food/water, so my friend volunteered to go with their boats and show them the route. Net result: About 200 people rescued, a few thousand food and water packets distributed.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 04 Dec 2015 22:27

Rony wrote:Tamil Nadu govt refuses Rs 5 crore assistance offered by Karnataka: Report

The refusal may raise eyebrows as the Karnakata government has challenged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in the ₹66 crore disproportionate assets (DA) case in the Supreme Court, which has posted the hearing in February.

THAT IS INDEED HORRIBLE OF HER TO REJECT! SHAME ON JJ

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 04 Dec 2015 23:06

Rains have stopped in most of the places south and south east of chennai including Cuddalore and Puducherry. They have been battered but fared better as water drains out fast, not much of obstruction as yet. Low lying colonies needed help, food fuel etc. But seems back on feet fast. Chennai Airport and Railway Station would operate tomorrow partially. Back online by sunday or monday.

Cuddalore is "Kadal Ur" or a place on the sea . Hence the name. It is not kuduluru.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 04 Dec 2015 23:18

System seems to be moving south-south-west. hence forecast is sparing chennai from t-storm and heavy rainfall.

HEAVY RAINFALL WARNING:

DAY 1 (04th December): Isolated heavy to very heavy rain would occur over Villupuram, Cuddalore, delta districts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal. Isolated heavy rain may occur over Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu.

DAY 2 (05th December): Isolated heavy to very heavy rain would occur over Villupuram, Cuddalore, delta districts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal. Isolated heavy rain may occur over Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu.

DAY 3 (06th December): Isolated heavy to very heavy rain would occur over South Coastal Tamil Nadu. Isolated heavy rain may occur over Kerala, Lakshadweep, North Coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

DAY 4 (07th December): Isolated heavy to very heavy rain would occur over South Coastal Tamil Nadu. Isolated heavy rain may occur over Kerala, Lakshadweep, North Coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 05 Dec 2015 00:06

Kerala RTC to help Chennai Victims - TNSTC blog via SSC

Kerala RTC started its special operation for rescuing people affected by Rain floods in Chennai. A Package of 200 Ltrs water , 30 packets bread 15 kg banana by Thrissur Depot Engineer and Mechanical team. KSRTC Thrissur Depot Engineer Mr.Sunil Mannadi and his team Contributed Water and Food items for Chennai Victims. The bus is from Thrissur to Chennai for take back people by Free of cost. Its not for only Keralites, anyone can use this facility., the bus will stop enroute to drop pax at salem and coimbatore. A great Thanks from Team TNSTC Blog to those Kind hearted People. Like special buses carrying Food items and other needs is operated from Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Palakkad too.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 05 Dec 2015 00:06

Passing the word for air passengers...

Source

sastri · Post by **sastri** » 05 Dec 2015 00:07

Situation has improved as of 04/12/2015 evening. Water level had started receding in many parts of the suburb and saidapet bridge was thrown open for public commuting. Suburban areas in South-West Chennai like Tambaram, Velachery, Mudichur, Koyambedu, Sholinganallur, OMR(IT-CORRIDOR), Kotturpuram, Saidapet, Guindy and Adyar are badly affected due to excess water which was let out from Chembarambakkam reservoir on 1/12/2015. Moreover Adyar river also originates from Chembarambakkam lake. Hence flooding of Adyar, Madhya Kailask, Kotturpuram, Saidapet, Nandanam, T.Nagar, Teynampet and Alwarpet

Meenambakam airport's TARMAC is also just adjacent to Porur lake which is also connected to Chembarambakkam lake. Hence the Runway's are flooded.

Suburban areas in North Chennai like Royapuram, Tondiarpet, Egmore, Triplicane, Broadway aka Parry's Corner and George town had very minimal stagnation of water and it's almost dry as of 04/12/2015. Areas like Triplicane, Mylapore and Mandaveli have adequate storm water drains+ temple reservoirs which seems to have quenched the excess water and also these areas were planned and developed by MMDA prior to formulation of CMDA.

Cooum-Buckingham canal is dead. It's nothing but a drainage reservoir. Water board authorities desilt cooum once in a blue moon. Even if they desilt prior to monsoon, it's nature of being a channelized drainage reservoir will block the outflow in no time. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/che ... 807799.ece

sastri · Post by **sastri** » 05 Dec 2015 00:12

Here is the link to a crowd sourced google spreadsheet, which can be viewed and edited upon reliable information in affected areas of Chennai.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 0&vpid=A92

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 05 Dec 2015 00:13

Travel free on MTC buses for four days - The Hindu

Considering the number of displaced people in the city, the government has announced that passengers can travel in MTC buses free of cost for four days, beginning Saturday (December 5).

According to an official release, normality was returning gradually to the flood-affected districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur and people different places. Therefore, the MTC buses would be operated free of cost for the travelling public from December 5 to 8.

The Corporation’s fleet has suffered an extensive damage due to the buses getting submerged. Many buses that reached remote corners in the far-flung and extended suburbs did not return to their respective depots, officials said.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 05 Dec 2015 00:20

Stranded people who were airlifted from Tambaram air base near Chennai de-boarding an Indian Air Force aircraft in New Delhi. Photo: PTI (Source: The Hindu)

Fire Service personnel rescue a family at a flood-hit area in Vyasarpadi, Chennai, on Friday. Photo: V. Ganesan (Source: The Hindu)

Police rescue a family from Vivekananda Nagar in Vyasarpadi. Photo: V. Ganesan (Source: The Hindu)

(NDRF personnel during the rescue operation in Kotturpuram, Chennai on Thursday. PTI) (Source: The Hindu)

A physically challenged person wades through flood waters on Pantheon Road. Photo: R. Ragu (Source: The Hindu)

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 05 Dec 2015 00:26

Prime Minister's Gesture Welcome - The New Indian Express

Chennai’s plight has moved the country and it seems, even the Rain Gods, for a change, had a change of mind Thursday. Though overcast, the skies didn’t open up until evening, giving Chennaiites much-needed breather and letting the armed forces, NDRF and the State government mount a massive relief and rescue operation. The brief window has also given us an indication of the sheer scale of the devastation caused in the last few days, particularly on, what could only be called, the Terrible Tuesday. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has confirmed that Chennai received in those 24 hours 330 mm rainfall, much more than the 250 mm it generally gets in the whole of December — a 100-year record. Where does this leave Tamil Nadu?

Coupled with the recent, almost as devastating rainfall, the State is now looking at an unprecedented crisis. The previous spell alone had left in its wake an `8,481-crore loss — this quantification doesn’t really convey the tragedy. Analyse this: 269 people have lost their lives; by one estimate, three million are deprived of basic services; railway station and the airport are shut; bus services are paralysed; power supply is snapped and hundreds are undergoing treatment in various hospitals, some of them in critical condition. Besides, several hundreds are still stranded — in railway stations, flooded homes, on rooftops and streets. For, as Rajnath Singh pointed out, Chennai is now practically an island. The NDRF has so far rescued over 2,000 people and as we write, the IAF is ferrying hundreds to safety as is the Army.

What I'd been saying all along, but was called out as mai-baap culture

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has activated the State apparatus with commendable alacrity and surveyed the marooned areas. But, the magnitude of this tragedy is too much to cope for the State alone. It’s heart-warming to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi rushing to Chennai to see for himself Tamil Nadu’s suffering. The Centre has already promised every possible help, and the PM has announced `1,000 crore more as immediate relief in addition to the `940 crore already sanctioned. Gestures like these give confidence, but it’s the consistent follow-up action that really counts. Going by the speed with which the State government and the Centre have responded — not to forget the armed forces — there is every reason to believe Tamil Nadu will overcome this crisis. Even if, as the weatherman is warning, the worst is not over yet.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 05 Dec 2015 03:09

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... -alarming/

Unprecedented calamity, Chennai toll 269, says Rajnath Singh
Terming the situation due to Chennai rains as "very alarming", Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that the Centre will extend all possible assistance to the state governments in dealing with natural calamities.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 05 Dec 2015 03:11

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 05 Dec 2015 07:32

We are locally calling out to all Sangh(a/m/)s and India association for a grand fundraiser cookout. Hoping about 500 people to come. That should be something to send @10-20 bucks each or more how much ever they can eat, and how much ever we cook to feed few starving 1000s.

I hope you all may do the same wherever you are.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Dec 2015 08:15

arshyam wrote: What I'd been saying all along, but was called out as mai-baap culture

As a person from Chennai, I generally agree with you. The Corporation staff, police, firefighters initially and later the armed forces & NDRF have done a tremendous job. Of course, hundreds of volunteers both individually and through voluntary organizations have pitched in. No words can be sufficient to express appreciation for all of them.

The only criticism that I would place against the government would be that they were caught off guard though the met office including from other countries had predicted extremely heavy rains. That is a serious charge still.

Drainage issues, encroachments on water bodies, being ill-prepared are endemic and I am afraid no change will happen. It is impossible to tear down all those constructions even if people choose not to live in many of these anymore. Everything will be forgotten in due course and this will continue as before. That would be the biggest tragedy.

Cuddalore, which bore the brunt of Tsunami too, is even more badly affected. That district is normally prone to cyclones too.

It will take a few days for a true picture to emerge provided rains stop now. Unfortunately, southern districts are under very heavy rains as I write this. Very heavy rains in Nellore, Chittoor etc are causing flooding in Palar, Arani river. This will bring more waters into Chennai too. As a result, the already full Poondi reservoir in Tiruvalloor is receiving 10000 cusecs right now. The Kosasthalayar river connects the Poondi reservoir with Cholavaram Reservoir. There is also a link canal from Poondi to Chembarambakkam reservoir. This excess water on this link canal joins Cooum river at Aranvayal. Whenever the floodgates of Poondi reservoir are opened, water gets drained into the sea through the Kosasthalaiyar river near the Ennore creek. This has caused huge flooding in North Chennai. The man-made Buckingham Canal interlinks Cooum & the Adyar and flows past Mahabalipuram to almost Pondicherry. Over the years, all these rivers have shrunk in capacity due to encroachment and a lack of maintenance. Their outlets into the Bay have not been dredged frequently and systematically. They are therefore unable to discharge freely into the BoB.

Clouds are threatening in Chennai too and there has been intermittent heavy showers since last afternoon. There is a warning of very heavy rains early next week. Hope that does not happen.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 05 Dec 2015 08:57

80% chance of rain mon-wed

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 05 Dec 2015 09:03

SSridhar, your detailed reports are appreciated. Please post any weather reports you can. Google search throws up a lot of hits, and not sure which ones are more reliable.

ArmenT your facebook post repost of flood status of various areas is appreciated.

General:
I had not found much information on trains....but it seems that trains from Delhi (GT, TamilNad Exp) are cancelled, as are Coramandel, Howrah mail. Even Bangalore trains are cancelled. Seems like Madras Central is hit....but did not make the headlines.

SSridhar...with Adayar cresting over Saidapet bridge, would that have damaged the foundations?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Dec 2015 09:06

Wet spells may revisit Chennai for 10 more days, says US agency

Satellite pictures on Friday evening showed clouds moving towards South-East Tamil Nadu coast and adjoining North Sri Lanka even as rain-hit Chennai recorded fresh showers amounting to 2 cm.

India Met Department had kept Chennai ‘under watch’ for two days from Friday but most of the excess rain was recorded to its South as winds turned north-easterly from easterly.

The Chennai Met Centre said that the North-East monsoon has been active over Coastal Tamil Nadu during the 24 hours ending Monday morning.

‘Low’ persists

Rainfall occurred at many places over coastal Tamil Nadu. Isolated rainfall occurred over interior Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and south interior Karnataka.

Chief amounts of rainfall recorded in centimetres are Nagapattinam and Cuddalore-9 each; Pondicherry-8; Cheyyur and Karaikal-7 each; Sethiathope and Sirkali-6 each; and Panruti, Anaikaranchatram, Parangipettai, and Marakkanam-5 each.

The causative low-pressure area persisted over South-West Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka off the Tamil Nadu coast.

Rain watch

In an extended forecast, the Met said that rain or thundershowers would continue to lash many places over South Peninsular India and at a few places along the West Coast for another week (until December 11). The US Climate Prediction Centre has maintained a rain watch that covers the entire area from Chennai to the South of Tamil Nadu coast, the peninsular tip (Kanyakumari) and North Sri Lanka during the week ending Wednesday.

It is again Chennai and neighbourhood which have been put on notice for rain watch during the week that follows i.e. from December 10 to 16.

Cyclonic whirl

As for the short-term outlook for four days beginning tomorrow (Saturday), the following is the assessment of the Met Department.

Saturday: Heavy rain at isolated places over Coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Sunday: Heavy rain at isolated places over Coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala.

Monday: Heavy rainfall at isolated places over Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Tuesday: Heavy rainfall at isolated places over Lakshadweep.

The movement of the rain belt from South-East Tamil Nadu and adjoining Sri Lanka around the peninsular tip and onward to the Lakshadweep Sea tracks that of the low-pressure area and its embedded cyclonic circulation and the larger trough that hosts the twosome.

In this manner, the rains should dry up over Tamil Nadu but the southward movement of an anti-cyclone from North India is seen squeezing available easterly winds of its moisture over North Tamil Nadu.

This is what should continue to fall as rain over Chennai and its neighbourhood.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Dec 2015 09:10

SriKumar wrote:SSridhar...with Adayar cresting over Saidapet bridge, would that have damaged the foundations?

Apart from that huge volume of water flowing a few feet over the bridge (Chembarampaakkam released an unheard of 80000 cusecs), it was the swift flow & currents. The bridge would certainly have to be assessed once normalcy returns.

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 05 Dec 2015 09:22

Thanks. interesting that Hindu is tracking US-based weather predictions.
Bridge...I guess it will be a while for hte flow to come to a point for such an assessment. I had heard that traffic is moving again on that bridge. Wonder how Kotturpuram bridge is holding up...seen no pictures of that.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 05 Dec 2015 09:35

Sone People are still unreachable, lot of worry.

Sridhar K · Post by **Sridhar K** » 05 Dec 2015 09:36

https://m.facebook.com/tamilnaduweatherman/
This guy has been spot on and has been giving us periodic updates.

From Facebook update, Traffic is openon Kotturpuram bridge only for people of the area as the roads leading to it are flooded

The southern suburbs have received more rainfall than the city and have a lot of lakes that are already overflowing. Am worried about the suburbs over the next few days.

Areas like pallikaranai, Guduvanchery, Kattankulathur area the relief work is left to local authorities, police and volunteer groups. Media coverage has been very poor as well.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Dec 2015 09:45

SriKumar wrote: Wonder how Kotturpuram bridge is holding up...seen no pictures of that.

Kotturpuram is one of the worst-affected areas. The water was flowing over the bridge here too, even over the Thiru Vi Ka bridge near Malar hospital, Adyar. The Gandhi Mandapam & Cenatoph roads were flooded. To add to the problems, the road too caved in near the Kotturpuram bridge. The LIG apartments on the southern banks of the Adyar river at Kotturpuram are one of the worst affected within the city. Water was several floors up.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 05 Dec 2015 10:57

From the satellite images on IMD website it appears that the eye of the system has moved to Srilanka, near Colombo. What we will see now is peripheral rains in Chennai . So there should be some more respite from rains as of now.(10AM images) Southern TN and Kerala may get more precipitation. Chennai might continue to get more waters due to rains in its catchment area /watershed zone. I am seeing sporadic rains now with light clouds often.

Airport is to be partially opened for day flight as runway is declared safe for operations.
Chennai airport to resume partial flight operations tomorrow

The airport would open at 6 AM and flights would operate till day light is there, he said.

The runway has been cleared for operations after inspections by officials and experts, another AAI official said.

Meanwhile Rajali is operating civilian flights though one or two from each airlines.

Central was closed with all trains cancelled. Now Railways have announced special trains mostly going from Beach.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 05 Dec 2015 11:04

Eye of Shiva protecting India from harsh winter elsewhere. See how Himalayan ranges protect India.

Its water vapor wind estimation from INSAT 3D

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 05 Dec 2015 11:16

The recent Neeya Naana show was very timely and had a good range of discussion.

Javee · Post by **Javee** » 05 Dec 2015 11:50

News coming from MOS Aviation: Commercial flight services can't start at Chennai airport as of now, we should give it 2 days time. @RidlrCHN