Rain breaks 30-year record in Puducherry

Chennai:  Cyclone Fengal has left a trail of destruction, claiming at least 19 lives across India and Sri Lanka and causing severe flooding in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

 Puducherry experienced its heaviest 24-hour rainfall in 30 years, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which described the deluge as “nature’s fury.”

The unrelenting downpour inundated streets and homes, uprooted trees and paralysed transport services in Puducherry. Residents grappled with prolonged power outages, while the Army and paramilitary forces were deployed to rescue individuals stranded in waterlogged areas.

Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district suffered significant economic losses and fatalities, with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin terming the rainfall “unprecedented.”