Schools in six districts of Tamil Nadu declare a holiday, with heavy rains lashing in many parts of the state, including Chennai, today, June 19, as stated in a report by IANS.
According to the Tamil Nadu Weather Department, this is the first time after 1996 that the state has experienced such heavy rainfall in the month of June.
Schools in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Vellore, Ranipet and Thiruvallur districts have declared holidays because of the rain. These districts are seeing thunderstorms and heavy rain since Sunday night, June 18, and have continued till Monday morning.
The Meenambakkam weather station reported 14 cm of rainfall till 5.30 am today. Automatic rain gauges (ARGs) in Taramani and Nandanam recorded 12 cm of rain, and Chembarambakkam recorded 11 cm of rain on Monday morning.
Weathermen expect the rain to continue till Tuesday, and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted downpours in 13 districts, including Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Perambalur and Tiruchi till Tuesday.
Moreover, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) also issued an Orange alert for Chennai and neighbouring districts, predicting “heavy” to “very heavy rain”.
The reason behind the heavy rain is a cyclonic circulation that persists over the Southeast Bay of Bengal between 3.1 and 5.8 km above the mean sea level.
The heavy rains have also caused flooding and transportation has been disrupted in several sections of Chennai.
