Chennai: Cloudburst triggers torrential rain in city, flights diverted
The meteorological bulletin said light to moderate rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area in the next 24 hours
North Chennai residents in Tamil Nadu are reeling from heavy rain as the region witnessed an intense downpour between 10 pm to 12 midnight on Saturday (August 30). Due to the heavy rain, some flights scheduled to arrive at the Chennai International Airport were diverted to Bengaluru airport.
As per the Regional Meteorological Centre bulletin on Sunday, Chennai experienced heavy downpour between 10 pm to 12 midnight on Saturday, with North Chennai receiving extremely heavy rainfall.
"Three extremely heavy, eight very heavy and twenty-eight heavy rainfall events were recorded during the 24 hours ending 8.30 am on August 31. Manali, New Manali Town and Wimco Nagar recorded extremely heavy rainfall of 27 cm, 26 cm and 23 cm, respectively," a bulletin issued by the department said.
The heavy rainfall was triggered by a cloudburst, which occurred over Manali and its neighbourhood areas. Manali recorded 106.2 mm rainfall during 10-11 pm and 126.6 mm rainfall between 11 pm and 12 midnight on Saturday, the bulletin said.
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Flights were redirected
According to the airport sources, flights from Bengaluru, Delhi, France and Mangaluru scheduled to arrive at Chennai were diverted to Bengaluru due to heavy rainfall in the wee hours of Sunday.
However, after the rainfall abated in Chennai, the passengers were flown back to the city from Bengaluru by different flights, airport authorities confirmed.
In its forecast for Chennai and neighbouring districts, the meteorological bulletin said light to moderate rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area in the next 24 hours. Strong wind at a speed of 40-50 kmph is likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area, it said.
On August 23, many places in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvannamalai districts received moderate to heavy overnight rains.