After continuing rain for the last seven days, Chennai breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday when the pouring abated for a while and the waters began to recede, even as the city lay paralysed due to flooding on major roads and in several homes in low-lying areas.

Tamil Nadu has been hit with heavy rainfall for two weeks now which has not only claimed 60 lives across the state but also damaged property and has put activity in major cities on hold due to waterlogging and a scare of outbreak of diseases.


As of Monday, 12 teams of the National Disaster Response Force were deployed along with units of Indian Army to assist with relief and rehabilitation of the residents who found themselves stuck on terraces and upper storeys of buildings.

Even as schools and colleges have been forced to shut down and exams cancelled across Chennai due to incessant rainfall, public services have also taken a hit. Government run buses were reportedly running on time but had difficulty in dropping off and picking passengers as major roads were flooded. On the other hand, auto-rickshaws and cabs were found to be overcharging multiple times the regular fare.



 



Across the state, the rainfall has claimed close to 60 lives and displaced thousands who have run to seek shelter in safer areas. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the bereaved families.

To make things worse, however, the Meteorological Department has predicted no respite from heavy rainfall at least for the next two days as the city grapples with full reservoirs and a shortage of basic utilities in households submerged under water.




Meanwhile, boats could be seen on Chennai streets as well as inside the Indian Institute of Technology campus.

As the state tries to contain damage caused due to heavy rainfall, social media has emerged a preferred choice for citizens to share updates as well as coordinate to disseminate real time information about flooding. One such example is the following Google Map created by Chennai residents to track flooded, submerged and safer roads in the city which are marked with balloons of different colours.




On the other hand, those stuck at home because of rains chose to share pictures and videos of their surroundings.