Good morning, Chennai!
☁️ Today’s weather: More cloudy weather for today.
🧐 Did you know? TIDEL Park was the first IT Park in the state. It was set up as a partnership between the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) in 2000.
🥛 Milk supply disrupted
The city continued to face a shortage of milk since supply remained constrained.
What’s it about? Several areas of the city and suburbs saw long lines outside of shops as the supply of milk was disrupted due to the cyclone. Milk and Dairy Development Minister T Mano Thangaraj assured people that supply would normalise soon.
- Milk supply was affected since the dairy farms at Ambattur and Sholinganallur were submerged. In places like Tambaram, Alandur, Chrompet, and Pallavaram, long lines formed outside shops selling milk.
- The Minister said the situation has improved and there is sufficient stock of Aavin milk powder. He also urged sellers and agents to reach out to consumers, especially in areas where supply couldn’t be reached in the past few days.
Resuming normalcy: Additional Chief Secretary Mangat Ram Sharma said normally 19 lakh litres of milk are supplied to Chennai and surrounding areas. On Wednesday, 14 lakh litres were supplied with 10 lakh litres from Aavin and the remaining from private diaries.
🌧️ High rainfall levels
At two of the city’s observatories, annual rainfall crossed 200 cm following the two-day downpour.
What’s it about? At the Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam observatories, annual rainfall crossed a record 201 cm and 217 cm. This was the sixth time in thirty years for Nungambakkam and the fourth time in twenty years for Meenambakkam.
- Record rains this year were due to excess spells during the June-September period. Both stations recorded 75 cm and 95 cm of rain.
- Since October 1, the city has received 108 cm of rain which is 52% above normal. Cyclone Michaung brought 40 cm of rain on December 4 and 5.
Is it unprecedented? According to former deputy general of the IMD YEA Raj, the cyclone and floods aren’t unprecedented since Chennai has witnessed record heavy rainfall before. The most notable was in 2015.
⛑️ No option but to evacuate
In the city’s southern suburbs, residents have no option but to evacuate with neighbourhoods still flooded.
What happened? The city’s southern suburbs bore the brunt of Cyclone Michaung. The resulting heavy rain meant several neighbourhoods and roads continued to remain flooded and inaccessible. Residents had no option but to be evacuated by boats.
- In Pallikaranai, Perungudi, Thoraipakkam, and Sholinganallur, over 1,000 people were rescued from their homes. The Corporation was slow in pumping out water from these areas.
- NDRF personnel said it was among the most challenging rescue operations they’ve ever done since electricity still hasn’t been restored. In many places, water reached the first floor of houses and apartments.
Boats the only option: In places like Old Mahabalipuram and surrounding areas, the Corporation said its primary focus is to evacuate people by boats since rescue vehicles can’t reach residents.
🧑💼 Chennai’s businesses take a hit
Many manufacturing units and other businesses were badly hit by Cyclone Michaung.
What’s it about? As the cyclone dumped half a metre of rain in three days, several local manufacturing units and industries were affected as factories were flooded. Many places still don’t have power, adding to their woes.
- In Padi, auto component manufacturing companies like the TVS Group have been badly hit. Many of the Padi sub-stations are waterlogged, so the area still doesn’t have power.
- IT areas like Sholinganallur and Velachery were flooded with several IT parks having knee-deep water.
WFH woes: For many, working from home became difficult since there was no power. Even after power returned to some parts, there was no mobile and internet service since the cables were cut.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Guna Label is a Tamil standup comedy show from Guna Kannan happening this Saturday.
- I Identify As, an English play on gender identity, is playing this Saturday.
- Develop new skills with the Sign Language Workshop this Sunday.
- Open Mic Campfire brings together storytellers and musicians this Sunday.
- Why She Did, What She Did is an ancient Greek tragedy being performed this weekend.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- The city fared better compared to the 2015 floods: 25.0%
- The city didn’t fare better compared to the 2015 floods: 75.0% 🏆
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!