As heavy rains lash Tamil Nadu, schools shut in several districts

The northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu has intensified leading to widespread rainfall across several districts including Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, Madurai, Nagapattinam among others since Wednesday night. Due to the heavy rainfall, schools in Madurai, Coimbatore, Theni, Tiruppur, Dindigul declared holidays. In Nilgiris and in four taluks of Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kothagiri, Kundah, holidays were declared for both schools and colleges.

As per the latest observation by the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai and Kil Kotagiri Estate (Nilgiris district) recorded 23 cm of rainfall. While Pillur Dam Mettupalayam (Coimbatore district) recorded 15 cm of rainfall, Moolaikaraipetti (Tirunelveli district) recorded 14 cm of rainfall. Nambiyur (Erode district) and Avinasi (Tiruppur district) recorded 12 cm of rainfall each.

According to the weather department, till Thursday evening, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places over Ghat areas of Coimbatore district, Nilgiris, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu. Further, heavy rainfall is likely to occur at several districts including Erode, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Pudukkotai, Mayiladuthurai, Salem, Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Theni, Dharmapuri districts.

As far as Chennai and its neighbouring districts including Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur are concerned, light rain is likely to occur for the next three hours.