Rain lashes Chennai all day, Retail and F&B outlets suffer

Unpredicted, unprecedented rains which have lasted for over 6 hours have dampened people movement and shunned shopping and eating out on New Year's Eve.

In what is said to be an unprecedented December rain, Chennai city experienced incessant showers from noon onwards till late evening on Thu. 30 Dec. ’21. This is perhaps the fist time the city witnessed this kind of rains in a single day in the month of December. Till 5.30pm, the city has received 13cm rains in MRC Nagar and 12cm in Nungambakkam. Several weather experts took to twitter to convey their regret that they could not pick these trends early which not just seem to be rare but also terrifying.

Apologies to everyone for not able to pick up this high intensity rains today. No #Weather models picked. Moderate to heavy spell of #Rains to continue for the next couple of hours at least over #Chennai and surrounding. It's better to stay wherever you are. #chennairains #COMK pic.twitter.com/Ns2UWiCcO5

— Chennai Rains (COMK) (@ChennaiRains) December 30, 2021

https://twitter.com/weatherkid_ch/status/1476528574123307012?s=24

While the shopping season ahead of Deepavali this year peaked, the entire month of November was muted for the Retail and F&B Industry (dining-led) due to continued rains in the city and many parts of the state all through November. The shopkeepers and businesses had a sigh of relief in December as the month was much better than any other month for business during the past 18 months or so. With new restrictions due to the impending Omicron threat, business was expected to slow down this weekend. The Govt. of TN has placed many restrictions including limited movement of traffic on 31 Dec. across arterial roads as well as compulsory winding up of F&B outlets by 11pm which has already created panic for establishments which were expecting brisk business. With Delhi closing movies, spas and malls, and Bangalore in the pipeline, Retail establishments in Chennai were gearing up for a slowing down of business in the coming month but this sudden downpour has taken everyone by shock, if not surprise.

What followed online were a spate of memes from various creators.

Over all, the month of December saw brisk retail business but the threat of the new virus Omicron variant coupled with restrictions on movement plus today’s rains could derail the sales projections for retailers across the city even as a new Calendar year begins.