(TOI photo by B A Raju)

CHENNAI: This battered southern city has had a welcome respite from rain since Monday night, after a weekend of heavy downpours sank homes, caused rivers to breach their banks and killed 189 people throughout the state. Thanks to the break, choppers, boats and vehicles were able to move more than 55,000 people from the city and its suburbs to safety.  Community kitchens came alive to feed refugees in rain shelters and the government resolved that it won't let the rain lead to any more loss of lives. "We got in three days rainfall that was to be spread across three months," minister Valarmathi explained. " But we are making sure that no more life is lost.  We are rescuing people and removing water from low-lying areas on a war footing. "On Tuesday, the sun was shining and the city looked deceptively tranquil.  That is, if you weren't at the banks of the Adyar river or in one of the 789 spots identified by the city corporation as 'flooded. 'The Adyar was in spate with the gushing waters from the Chembarambakkam reservoir some 30km from the city feeding its fury.  The Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force and the Coastal Security Group joined the civic authorities and police in evacuation.  About 50 boats struggled to move out thousands of families from 15 localities along the Adyar, especially from Manapakkam, Jafferkhanpet, Saidapet and Kotturpuram.  In neighbouring Kancheepuram, 130 boats ferried 16,613 people to safety.  Choppers crisscrossed the suburban skies of West Tambaram and Mudichur which were mostly submerged. In the evening, social welfare minister B Valarmati told reporters that 25,595 people were rescued from the banks of the Adyar, and another 12,918 from other parts of the city. Read this story in Telugu