Overview
- The IMD placed eight Tamil Nadu districts under red alert, kept Chennai and several others on orange alert, and issued a red alert in Kerala’s Idukki, Palakkad and Malappuram for October 22.
- A well-marked low over the southwest Bay of Bengal is forecast to become a depression by October 22, while a separate system over the southeast Arabian Sea is strengthening and keeping the northeast monsoon active through October 25–26.
- Persistent downpours caused waterlogging across Chennai with reports of a flooded airport runway, and landslides in the Nilgiris led to suspension of Nilgiri Mountain Railway services.
- Recorded totals included 17 cm at Thangachimadam, 149 mm at Ramanathapuram, 90 mm at Nagapattinam and about 63.5 mm in parts of Chennai, prompting a third-stage flood alert in Vaigai Dam command districts.
- Authorities expanded relief readiness with camps, drainage and equipment deployments, directed relocations from low-lying areas, and advised fishermen to stay off the seas from October 21 to 25.