Authorities Evacuate Thousands Stranded at Flood-Stricken Airport

Officials worked to rescue nearly 1,500 passengers and an additional 1,000 airport employees who were left stranded after record rains flooded Chennai International Airport.

The same record rainfall that left the runway at Chennai International Airport (MAA) underwater also left employees and passengers hopelessly stranded in airport buildings. The airport in southern India was closed to flights Wednesday after days of historic downpour swamped runways, but the situation worsened substantially in the hours after officials ordered the airport closed. Photos on social media show an airport and its buildings that are almost completely submerged by floodwaters.

UPDATE More photos have emerged of #Chennai Airport floods suspending flights. #ChennaiFloods pic.twitter.com/IcEDfTDxu3 – @S118869

— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) December 2, 2015

Pictures of passengers wading past ticket counters and aircraft entirely surrounded by murky water illustrate an increasingly dire scene. It was originally anticipated that MAA might reopen as early as Thursday morning, but officials quickly backed away from those earlier, more optimistic predictions.

“If the rain stops, then only we can give you some type of time frame, but if it won’t stop then we can’t say anything as Chennai and neighboring districts are badly affected,” Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told The Hindu on Wednesday. “If water recedes, then only we will be able to do something.”

Far from preparing to reopen the deluged airport, officials instead rushed to rescue the estimated 2,500 passengers and airport workers who became stranded as flood waters rose even higher than expected. Rescue workers spent much of Wednesday trying to evacuate and find a place to shelter those marooned in terminals, a challenge compounded by resources that were already stretched to the limit by days of unprecedented rainfall and flooding across the region.

“All passengers are expected to be evacuated by 4 p.m. today,” R K Srivastava, whose company AAI manages the airport, told The Hindu early Wednesday morning. “AAI has arranged six buses to evacuate the passengers from the airport.”

In the meantime, officials said they would work to get food and water to those holed-up in airport facilities.

[Photo: NDTV]