No food, 5-foot water in homes, most suburbs marooned

CHENNAI: Cyclone Michaung lived up to its name of being strong and wreaked havoc on the city. Most houses in the suburbs were flooded by up to 5 feet of water on Monday and Tuesday. People were being rescued on boats and taken to relief camps.

Houses in Varadharajapuram, Mudichur, Mudichur CTO Colony, Gundumedu, Amudam Nagar, and Rajapah Nagar, Peerkankaranai were flooded completely. In some places, the water level was so high that the ground floor of the building was under water.

Thilak from Peerkankaranai said, “My daughter runs a dental clinic in the house. Due to the rain, the ground floor was flooded. All the equipment was damaged.” Since the stagnated water level on the streets and homes in Mudichur, CTO Colony, and Varadharajapuram was high, rescue teams arrived with boats to take residents to flood-relief camps. In Amudham Nagar, and Toll Plaza in Vandalur-Minjur Outer Ring Road, the water level was up to 3 feet.

Police stopped the movement of vehicles temporarily as most cars and bikes were stuck on the Outer Ring Service Road. Traffic was also affected in ECR as the road caved in at several palaces in Punchery near Mahabalipuram. The SETC and Pondicherry bus services were stopped in ECR and all vehicles were diverted to Puducherry via Maduranthagam.

Wading through the water that reached their chest, Mannivakkam residents lamented over the apathy of government officials who had not helped them in any way as water entered around 600 houses in Thangavel Nagar and Ganesh Nagar. “Even basic amenities like water and food were not available. A few youngsters had to go many streets away to get drinking water and food,” one of the residents said.