Chennai residents take refuge in hotel rooms amid heavy rain

Hoteliers say lack of water, waterlogging are the reasons

Several business-class hotels have witnessed families from areas like T. Nagar, West Mambalam, Alwarpet and R.A. Puram moving into rooms. Long power cuts leading to lack of water and the Internet, and water entering homes are reasons, said hoteliers.

Ganesh Ramakrishnan, a resident of R.A. Puram, said he moved his family of six to a nearby hotel after water entered their ground-floor house. "We could not stay inside as the water was over my ankle and the street outside had knee-deep water. Since my wife and I work, we have left our children in the care of our father at the hotel room. With heavy rain being predicted this entire week, we plan to stay at the hotel in Luz," he said.

West Mambalam resident K. Shankari said she had moved to a hotel room after their apartment ran out of water. "We managed without power supply but since the overhead tank went dry, we left to a hotel," she said.