Massive rainfall causes devastating flood in India

With water levels rising above six feet and cars floating, flipped over, through the flooded roads, the city of Chennai, India has been devastated by the most rainfall they have received in a hundred years.

A downpour caused flooding throughout the state of Tamil Nadu during the month of November, with heavy rainfall starting in the first week of December. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s website, Chennai received 40.31 inches of rain in November alone, more than 300 percent of Chennai’s average monthly rainfall.

About one million people have been uprooted from their homes near Chennai. An estimated 347 people have died as a result of the floods since Oct. 1.

Long distance effects of El Niño, a weather phenomenon that results in ocean temperatures rising in central and eastern parts of the tropical belt of the Pacific Ocean, caused heavy rainfall in southern India. The flooding was augmented due to faulty drainage systems throughout the cities.

“The northeast monsoon season of October to December is the chief rainy season for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,” states the World Meteorological Organization’s website. “It is also the chief cyclone season over the North Indian Ocean and hence, low pressure systems forming over the Bay of Bengal and moving westwards contribute significantly towards the rainfall.”

The rising water levels caused many residents to relocate to higher floors, if not depart the city.

“Some [friends and relatives], they had to move from the ground floor up to the first floor, and then up to the second floor,” Upper School physics and math teacher Dr. Anu Aiyer said. “Others had to move out of the city, they went to Bangalore.”

A major problem during the floods was dealing with sickness because people were not able to access hospital services.

“The water over there, because it’s mixed with sewage, is also really dirty and contaminated,” Kaushik Shivakumar (9) said.

Radhika Srinivas, who has relatives in Chennai, is currently working on participating in relief efforts for the victims of the flood.

“I know now they have a surplus of food so we are not giving them food, but we are trying to prevent them from getting diseases, like putting disinfectant, a blanket, and spreading the message of how you need to wash your hands and keep your surroundings clean,” Srinivas said. “So my friends and I have put together these care packages for all of them and there are about 300 packages being distributed to a slum.”

Various Indian actors, including Siddarth, Dhanush, Vijay and Rajinikanth, are involved in the relief efforts, and have donated money to the devastated areas.

Organizations throughout the Bay Area are also helping raise money through various causes. The Indian Community Center (ICC) in Milpitas is hosting a zumba event in which all proceeds will go to helping the victims of the floods in Chennai. Similarly, the Anjappar Chettinad restaurant in Santa Clara and Milpitas is helping fundraise by donating their sale proceeds for flood relief.

Chennai is expected to experience a week of sunny days with low chances of rain for the next week.

According to AccuWeather, moisture previously centralized in India will be pushed south; as a result, Chennai’s rains will stop, while storms will continue in Sri Lanka and other countries south of India.

“I think it’ll take at least about six months to a year for [Chennai] to really get back to where [it was],” Srinivas said. “Because lot of businesses and factories have been wiped out–there is a lot of loss, so it’s going to take a long time to get back to real normalcy.”