Gale and rain lash Madras: 2 killed and 30,000 homeless – The Hindu

Madras, Dec. 5: Incessant rain and gale which hit Madras to-day claimed two lives and disrupted road and air traffic. Many localities were flooded rendering 8,000 families consisting of 30,000 hutdwellers homeless. A child, Jayachandran (4), was fatally injured in a wall collapse at Mylappa Gramani Street in Aynavaram this morning. A 65-year-old man, Kuppuswami, was killed in Perambur when he came into contact with a snapped wire on the road. Most of the educational institutions remained closed. Attendance in many offices was thin. The Legislative Council did not meet this afternoon due to bad weather. It will meet at 4 p.m. tomorrow. The gale reaching a maximum speed of 87 km per hour lashed the city in the wake of the cyclonic storm — centered about 50 kms east south-east of Cuddalore at 1-30 a.m. which is expected to cross the coast in the early morning of December 6. The storm warning signal was hoisted at the Madras Port. All loading and unloading operations were suspended at the harbour.  The Adyar and Cooum were in spate. The rushing waters in the Cooum burst the sand banks at its confluence with the sea beyond the Napier Bridge. The High Court Subway, many stretches of College Road in Nungambakkam, the section of Edward Elliot Road between Dr Natesan Road and the Royapettah High Road, Sullivans’ Garden Road in Mylapore, Doraiswamy Road subway in T Nagar were under knee deep water following heavy rain. Some of the State Transport long distance services were affected to-day due to the fall of a tree near Pondicherry. The bus bound for Madras from Pondicherry was diverted via Tirukalkundram.