A nine-year-old girl died while her brother suffered injuries after a house wall collapsed on them following heavy rains in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvarur district. The state has been lashed by uninterrupted rainfall since Sunday.

Continuing into Monday, the rain persisted, significantly impacting the day-to-day activities of people in Chennai and its nearby districts, including Chengalpet, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur.

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The deceased girl has been identified as R Monisha, The incident occurred in a village near Nannilam on Sunday evening when the siblings were asleep in their house, which was in a dilapidated condition due to the continuous rain.

Orange alert issued

Continuous rainfall affected Chennai and nearby districts, prompting an ‘orange’ alert from the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) for several areas in Tamil Nadu, including Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvarur, as well as Puducherry and Karaikal.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), strong Easterly/Northeasterly winds prevail in the lower tropospheric levels, favoring moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal over Tamil Nadu, resulting in the current spell of rainfall across the region.

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The RMC in Chennai has predicted rainfall across various districts in Tamil Nadu for the next seven days.

“Heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli districts and Puducherry,” the forecast stated on Sunday.

According to weather data released on Monday morning, Sirkazhi in Mayiladuthurai district recorded the highest rainfall at 24 cm, followed by Chidambaram in Cuddalore district at 23 cm, and Velankanni in Nagapattinam district at 22 cm.

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Schools and colleges shut

Eight districts in Tamil Nadu declared a holiday on Monday for educational institutions due to continuous rainfall in the state. District Collectors announced school closures in Kallakurichi, Ranipet, Vellore, and Tiruvannamalai.

Additionally, schools and colleges in Nagapattinam, Kilvelur, Viluppuram, and Cuddalore will remain closed on Monday, as authorities cited the adverse weather conditions. Annamalai University in Chidambaram postponed examinations in light of the heavy rain.

According to the cumulative rainfall report by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Kathivakkam in Thiruvottiyur zone recorded the highest rainfall (69.3 mm) in the past 24 hours. Following closely were Uthandi (67.65 mm) in Sholinganallur zone and Mugalivakkam (53.4 mm) in Alandur zone till 6 am on Monday.

The heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in various parts of the city, causing travel difficulties for daily commuters. Moreover, the ongoing Pongal gift hamper token distribution was affected, as shown in several videos depicting long queues of people enduring the heavy rain in Chennai.