Chennai, Oct 27 (UNI) As the Cyclonic storm Montha started moving towards Chennai, heavy rains lashed Chennai and its adjoining districts since morning and its gained in intensify tonight, even as a holiday was declared for all schools in the city and neighbouring districts tomorrow as the Met office has issued Orange Alert forecasting very heavy rainfall.
Though the city and suburbs has been receiving incessant rains since morning, it gained intensity by evening albeit after a brief stopover, before it further became stronger tonight.
As the Met Office has forecast very heavy rains for Chennai and Tiruvallur, the respectieve district administrations have declared a holiday for schools alone tomorrow.
The announcement was made late tonight.
The heavy rains left several areas waterlogged in the city and adjoining Northern districts of Tiruvallur, bordering Andhra
Pradesh, where the Cyclonic storm would intensify as a Severe Cyclonic Storm and cross the coast tomorrow evening/ night.
The spells were quite heavy in several parts of the city causing hardship to motorists and those returning home after office hours.
The Tamil Nadu government and the Greater Chennai Corporation have taken all precautionary measures to drain out stagnated rain water by using high powered motors. Further, NDRF and SDRF teams were also kept in readiness in Tiruvallur, with all life saving equipments and cutting machines to remove uprooted trees, to undertake rescue and relief operations.
Chief Minister M K Stalin has been monitoring the situation round the clock right from the day when the Northeast monsoon had set in over Tamil Nadu on October 16 and providing necessary instructions to the district collectors to take all precautionary measures, including opening of relief camps and provide all basic amenities including food, drinking water and medical facilities to those evacuated from low lying, river and lake embankment areas.
Met office said the rains is expected to continue all through the night and tomorrow when the system mover further close to Chennai before entering Andhra Pradesh. The rains in Chennai ar expected subside either by tomorrow afternoon or evening once it moved towards the neighbouring state after intensifying.
