Floods in the Indian city of Chennai followed the torrential rain from Cyclone Michaung on Monday last week, sending many factories and apparel manufacturers in the capital of Tamil Nadu reeling, with only a partial recovery by Friday.
Electricity and Internet connectivity are mostly back to normal, but many factories are running at less than half capacity because transit disruptions make commuting near impossible for some workers.
“While many factories could not function for three to four days, they have begun in a low capacity on Thursday,” Rajasekar Dsk, executive secretary at the Apparel Handloom Exporters Association, told Sourcing Journal. “We have not yet been able to take full stock of the damage.”
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Nearly 100 export-related apparel factories operate in the city and immediate surrounding areas, as well as 600 to 700 factories serving the domestic market.
Th main problem now is staffing. “It is difficult for workers to reach the factories,” Dsk said.
Chennai airport remained closed and more than 15 people lost their lives in incidents related to the flooding and rain as of Friday. A hub for industrial and automobile manufacturing, Chennai has taken flak for an inadequate drainage system which has contributed to the inundation.
While some manufacturers said they were able to get back to work within the first two days of the cyclone’s impact, others complained that facility damage and a lack of workers forced them to amend their production schedules.
Bharat Sarda, president Chennai Apparel Association, told Sourcing Journal that most factories suffered ground-floor damage, with higher floors mostly protected. “The loss of electricity and power made the situation far more difficult,” he said.
Rescue efforts included ferrying stranded citizens in rubber and fiber boats.
Schools and colleges are still closed as of Friday.
As climate change worsens, businesses are considering the possibility that these extreme weather events will occur more frequently. In 2015, torrential rain in Chennai drove an estimated $3.5 billion in business losses.
