Heavy rain overnight inundated many roads in the city and suburbs, and brought rush hour traffic to a standstill on many arterial roads.
The observatory at Nungambakkam received 156.2 mm during the past 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Thursday. This would probably be the highest rainfall recorded in the past one decade on a single day.
Heavy rainfall accompanied by thunder that lashed the city had left many interior roads water-logged. Motorists had to wait for long hours in inching traffic on many important roads such as Nelson Manickam
Road, Arcot Road, Poonamallee High Road, Erukkancheri High Road, Anna Salai and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai.
T.Moorthy, a resident of Porur, said “It took me more than two hours to reach home last night as vehicles were piled up on all arterial roads. I started one hour early today (Thursday) to reach my office on Poonamallee High Road.”
Trains to Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore railway stations were also delayed by 15 minutes owing to the rainfall on Wednesday night.
However, the observatory at Meenambakkam recorded only 16.3 mm of rainfall during the same period. Officials of the Meteorological department said thunderstorm activity could bring such volume of rainfall.
Last year, the city recorded the highest rainfall of 76.9 mm in a single day on August 18. The department forecasts rain or thundershowers may occur in some areas on Friday.
