Schools in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu remained closed on Thursday, October 22, due to heavy rainfall, ANI reported. District Collector Vishu Mahajan announced the closure in view of the heavy rain, as continuous rainfall affected urban and suburban areas of the district.

Source: ANI via DevDiscourse

The Times of India reported that schools were closed on Thursday in five districts — Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi and Tirupattur — with Tirupattur District Collector Nallasivan ordering the closure there because of heavy rain. In the neighbouring Union Territory, all government, government-aided and private schools in Puducherry and Karaikal were also declared closed on Thursday, Education Minister A Namachivayam said, according to ANI.

Source: The Times of India (Education Times)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said a low-pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the Tamil Nadu coast is likely to bring isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and Kerala between October 21 and 25. For Thursday, it forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds reaching 40–50 kmph at one or two locations.

Heavy rainfall that began on Tuesday continued overnight, with Chennai's MGR Nagar recording the highest rainfall at 15 cm and several neighbourhoods in and around the capital receiving between 10 cm and 15 cm, ANI reported. The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Chennai, and no fresh school closure was announced for the capital on Thursday. In the south, Tenkasi and Sattankulam in Thoothukudi district each recorded 6 cm and Tirunelveli recorded 5 cm, The Times of India reported, and the Regional Meteorological Centre has forecast rain across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry until October 26.

Mechanised boat fishermen in Thoothukudi have been advised not to venture into the sea for fishing due to the continuous and heavy rainfall, ANI reported. The IMD's list of districts likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday included Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Sivaganga, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai, along with Karaikal in Puducherry.

At a glance

Closed Thursday: schools in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi and Tirupattur, plus Puducherry and Karaikal. Highest rain: 15 cm at MGR Nagar, Chennai. IMD: heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorms and 40–50 kmph gusts at isolated places; system over the southwest Bay of Bengal, rain likely until October 25–26. Thoothukudi fishermen advised not to venture into the sea.

What is solid

  • Schools were closed on Thursday, October 22, in Thoothukudi — announced by District Collector Vishu Mahajan — and in Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi and Tirupattur, with Puducherry and Karaikal schools also closed — ANI and The Times of India.
  • Chennai's MGR Nagar recorded 15 cm of rain, the state's highest, and Chennai is under a yellow alert — ANI.
  • The IMD links the spell to a low-pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal and forecasts heavy to very heavy rain between October 21 and 25 — ANI.

What is only claimed

  • District lists differ slightly between reports — ANI's report centred on Thoothukudi and Puducherry–Karaikal, while The Times of India listed five Tamil Nadu districts including Tirupattur. Parents should follow their own district collector's order for Friday.