Cyclone Michaung has caused massive destruction in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states. The death toll in Chennai has risen to 23.
Chennai: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed his locality has been experiencing power outage for more than 30 hours and highlighed the challenging conditions people of Chennai are braving due to Cyclone Michaung that wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states.
Ashwin, who was last seen in India colours during the ODI World Cup 2023, is a resident of Chennai and has been posting and sharing several video clips of the water-logged city on social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
“No power in my locality for more than 30 hours too. Guess that’s the case in many places. Not Sure what options we have #ChennaiFloods,” Ashwin wrote while retweeting another post. Chennai witnessed some respite as rain stopped on Tuesday but the Tamil Nadu state capital struggled to cope with large-scale water logging, power cuts and disruption in mobile networks.
“Hang tight for another day everyone Even if the rain stops, recovery is going to take a while. #ChennaiRains2023 #Michaung,” the spinner had posted on Monday, while sharing a video of a damaged road.
No power in my locality for
more than 30 hours too. Guess thats the case in many places.Not Sure what options we have 🙏#ChennaiFloods https://t.co/gWArpwH3KI
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) December 5, 2023
At least 16 people have lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in Tamil Nadu. Personnel on fishing boats and farm tractors have been engaged in rescuing stranded people in the city.
Meanwhile, several District Disaster Response Teams (DDRT) were formed to carry out relief work in all rain-affected areas across Chennai. In Muthialpet locality on the city’s outskirts, 54 families were rescued, and a woman who had just given birth was relocated to a safer place from Saligramam in the city.
More than 250 people from low-lying areas found refuge at a school camp in Kotturpuram. Additionally, 22 passengers stranded after their local bus got stuck in rainwater, were transferred to a relief camp set up at the Middle School in Pallavaram.
Since Tuesday morning, most parts of Chennai experienced a respite from rains, allowing officials to focus on rescue and relief operations in affected areas. During a press conference at the Chennai Corporation headquarters on Tuesday morning, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin stated that relief measures were being undertaken on a war footing.
Stalin mentioned that across the nine affected districts, including Chennai, a total of 61,666 relief camps were established. Approximately 11 lakh food packets and one lakh milk packets have been distributed so far, he said.
The Chennai Corporation has brought in 5000 workers from other districts for flood mitigation works in the city. These workers utilised farm tractors and fishing boats in flooded areas such as Periamet and other parts of north Chennai for rescue operations and distributing relief materials.
With PTI Inputs