Chennai: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has forecast heavy rains with thunderstorms for four districts in Tamil Nadu on Saturday.
The districts expecting significant rainfall include Theni, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, and Madurai.
In response to the weather alert, a holiday has been declared for government, aided, and private schools in these districts.
In Tenkasi and Thoothukudi, the District Collectors have directed schools not to conduct even special classes.
Similarly, the Madurai District Collector has announced a holiday for all schools.
Theni District has also declared a holiday for all government, private, and aided schools.
The RMC has further predicted rain for the districts of Kanyakumari, Virudhunagar, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, and Tirunelveli.
Currently, heavy rains are inundating the western districts of Tamil Nadu, with many areas in Coimbatore and Tiruppur facing significant waterlogging.
In addition to the western districts, parts of Nilgiris, Dindigul, Theni, Tenkasi, Erode, Namakkal, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, and Mayiladuthurai have also been affected by heavy rains.
In Sellur, intense rains on Wednesday and Thursday led to severe flooding.
The Panthalkudi canal, which carries overflow water from the Sellur tank to the Vaigai River, breached its banks in multiple places, causing widespread inundation in the area.
The 2.6 km canal, which runs along the city, is currently overwhelmed.
Erode district has also experienced significant rainfall, leading to waterlogging on main roads and residential areas.
Many homes in Erode city were flooded, and railway tunnels at Vendipalayam were completely submerged, leaving vehicles stranded.
Suburban areas like Modakurichi and Kavindapadi were also severely affected.
Since the onset of the northeast monsoon on October 15, parts of Tamil Nadu have received copious rainfall, resulting in widespread flooding across the southern and western regions of the state.
The weather department has also issued a warning for thunderstorms with lightning in isolated areas across Tamil Nadu in the next 24 hours.
–IANS