Boats were deployed in some Chennai localities including Kotturpuram and Manapakkam, which were worst hit areas during December floods, as the city witnessed record rains over the last two days.

The authorities as well as the people have started taking all precautionary measures. As a safety measure, residents in some areas have been evacuated from their homes and moved to higher areas.

“With memories of last year floods haunting us, I decided to move to my son’s place in Adyar locality,” says Chandra, a resident of Manapakkam locality.

Due to warnings of heavy rains, people have also started stocking up essentials. Messages are doing the rounds on WhatsApp groups, alerting friends and family members.

Many parts of the city were reeling under power cuts.

The administration has set up an emergency number, 1070, to receive rainfall related grievances.

Media report says that as a part of the emergency preparations, the civic authorities have deployed nearly 12,000 people across Chennai to conduct the operations. Boats have been stationed at multiple locations for emergency rescue. As many as four teams of the National Disaster Response Force [NDRF] have been deployed in low-lying areas, says the report.