Chennai: Heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds pounded several parts of northern Tamil Nadu on Saturday, affecting normalcy, as 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 waterlogging in several areas, and many residents of low-lying Madipakkam parked their vehicles on both sides of the nearby Velachery flyover.
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 schedules of flights were affected to some extent. Chennai Metro Rail said its services were operational without any glitches and informed the 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.
