Chennai Rains
Indian men make their way on a flooded street in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on Nov. 9, 2015, following heavy rains. Getty Images/AFP/STR

At least 80 people have been killed and thousands evacuated after incessant rainfall lashed southern India over the past week, local media reported Monday. Tamil Nadu state was the worst-hit with at least 70 people dead and most parts of the state flooded. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast torrential rains for next three days in neighboring Andhra Pradesh state and union territory of Puducherry.

Schools and colleges remained shut and train services were disrupted in Tamil Nadu. Local authorities evacuated thousands of people from low-lying areas and transferred them to 70 relief camps in the state, Hindustan Times newspaper reported. The rainfall has been caused by low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa assured people Monday that normalcy would return. “People need not worry. I am there in support of you, so is the government. Normalcy will return soon and the government machinery is working day and night to ensure that,” Jayalalithaa said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Local authorities rescued people in boats and pumps were used to remove water from subways and inundated residential areas, NDTV, a local news network, reported.

The National Disaster Response Force was deployed in Andhra Pradesh as a preventive measure. More than a dozen people died in the coastal state, according to local news network IBN Live. People were cautioned about going near water bodies and those affected were evacuated and relocated to safer places.

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