The airport, India’s third busiest after Delhi and Mumbai, was flooded at the beginning of this week when Cyclone Michaung hit the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Chennai Airport (MAA) was forced to halt operations as heavy rain submerged its runways, and strong winds whipped up. Airport authorities cancelled 70 flights and diverted many others to Kempegowda airport in neighboring Bengaluru City.
The masses of water that brought flight operations to a standstill are the fourth severe weather event in just a few weeks to hit a major airport and massively impact flight operations. This was previously the case in Nairobi and Dubai which both battled flooding, internally (NBO) and externally (DXB), CargoForwarder Global reported. Meanwhile, over in Europe, Munich has been struggling with the onset of heavy snow, leaving passengers stranded for almost one week. Winter should not have come as such as surprise, however, in this case.
Clogged drains
The flooding of MAA was caused by the blockage of the sewage system in parts of the city that is home to 12 million inhabitants. This caused rainwater to mix with dirty water, resulting in feces and waste flooding the airport. The clogging of the drains was caused by mountains of garbage that usually lie on the sides of the streets and which were washed into the city’s sewage system as a result of the massive rainfall.
Severe cyclonic storm
Cyclone Michaung was categorized as a “severe cyclonic storm”, with sustained winds of 90-100 km/h (56-62 mph) and gusts of up to 110 km/h. Thousands of people had to leave the coastal areas and were brought to relief camps on higher ground.
The warm waters of the Bay of Bengal have spawned several deadly cyclones over the past few years, causing massive destruction in both India and Bangladesh.
In 2020, Cyclone Amphan killed at least 80 people in India and left thousands homeless. In 2019, Cyclone Fani claimed at least 89 lives and displaced millions in Odisha, another coastal Indian state. In 1999, a super cyclone killed about 10,000 people when it struck Odisha.
Putting the brakes on global warming?
Delegations from over 200 countries are currently discussing ways to reduce or partially stop global warming at the climate conference in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates, together with other Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, but also India, Russia, and China, are opposed to phasing out the burning of fossil fuels. According to scientific findings, this is the main cause of the climate crisis heating up the globe.
