Rain lashes TN, toll up at 18

Chennai, Oct 27 (UNI) Normal life was thrown out of gear as incessant rainfall under the influence of a of low pressure trough continued to lash Tamil Nadu submerging several parts of the state.

Extending from the Gulf of Mannar to West-central Bay off Andhra Coast across South-west Bay off Tamil Nadu Coast, the trough was persisting for the fourth day today, the Met office here said.

Under its influence, more rainfall had been forecast at most places over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, three members of a family were crushed to death when their rain-soaked house collapsed at Poomedu near Sholavandan in Madurai District today.

In Thanjavur, a class four student was electrocuted after he came into contact with a live wire. A girl was who came to his rescue suffered serious burn injuries and admitted to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.

With this, the toll in rain-related incidents in the state had risen to 18 since the onset of North-East Monsoon on October 20.

The Chennai city and its suburbs had been experiencing heavy rainfall since last night. Several residential colonies and low-lying areas were inundated.

With water covering most of the areas, serpentine queues of vehicles were witnessed on the roads, leading to traffic snarls and chaos.

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