Heavy rain and holiday declared in schools in many districts

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu witnessed widespread rainfall across the state as intensification of Northeast Monsoon continued, with southern districts recording heavy rainfall on Thursday.

Following heavy rains and floods, the administration declared holiday in schools today in several districts, including Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts, besides four taluks of Nilgiris district.

The Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) here has predicted heavy rain at different places in the state.

Under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over the southeast and adjoining east central Arabian Sea, a low pressure area formed over the east central Arabian Sea at 5.30 pm on 8 November, and is likely to move almost westwards and become less marked. area during the next 24 hours, it said.

Kotagiri in Nilgiri district topped the list with 228 mm rainfall.

Due to incessant rains, landslides were reported at about five places on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway line, due to which the mountain train service was cancelled. Landslides also occurred in Kotagiri, affecting road traffic and as a result, traffic was diverted from Coonoor to Mettupalayam.

According to the RMC, moderate thundershowers occurred in Tenkasi, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruvallur districts.

Northeast Monsoon is active across the state and Chennai and surrounding areas also received rain.