Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Tamil Nadu with the North East monsoon, which set in last week, continuing to be active.
The regional weather office said Palacod in Dharmapuri district recorded the maximum of 10 cm rain followed by Papanasam at 9 cm in the 24 hours ending 0830 hours on Friday.
In Chennai, rains in the morning rush hour made it difficult for office-goers even as the weather office has predicted more rains. Low-lying areas in the city were inundated.
The drinking water supplying lakes to Chennai, including Poondi, have reached their maximum storage capacity. The combined water storage was 9,447 million cubic feet (mcft) as against the full capacity of 11,057 mcft.
The storage at the corresponding day last year was 5,509 mc ft, according to Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board records.
Water bodies including reservoirs and dams across the State were receiving good inflow.
Weather office said rain or thundershower would occur at many places over North Tamil Nadu and Puducherry till tomorrow.
A Nagapattinam report said fisheries minister K A Jayapaul has called officials of various departments to coordinate and ensure all precautionary measures are in place in the district to tackle possible rain related damage as the district is disaster prone.
Places of safety near low lying areas should be identified for evacuation in emergencies and adequate stocks of essential commodities should be kept in fair price shops. Government Hospitals and Primary Health Centres should also have enough stocks of medicines, he said .
Likewise, supply of drinking water should be accorded top priority and people informed of power cuts and damage to power lines, he said after a review meeting of officials of various departments.
Officials of fire and rescue services, PWD, revenue,police and other departments should monitor the situation round the clock and initiate relief measures, he said.
An Erode report said the district widespread rains for the second successive day and that low lying areas had been inundated.
It said that the catchment areas of Lower Bhavani Project Reservoir at Bhavanisagar had received good inflows. The dam received 5543 cusecs today, helping increase the water level to 83.81 feet against its capacity of 105 feet.
District Collector Dr V K Shanmugam issued a public notice warning people to take due precautions in the wake of stagnant rainwater in many areas
The chief amounts of rainfall (in mm) in the district are: Muthur 64 mm, Sivagiri 60 mm, Perundurai 51 mm, Mangalapatty 47 mm, Gobichettipalayam 46 mm, Olapalayam 42 mm.
Chennimalai 39 mm, Erode 35 mm, PWD sources said.
