More rains may hit southern TN: Met Dept

The weather office says more rains will lash southern Tamil Nadu in the next several hours. 

The entire state has been seeing heavy showers in recent weeks. 

The Met department in Chennai said strong winds and rains are likely to batter Ramanathapuram, Tuticorin and Virudunagar districts. 

It said the bad weather is linked to storm-like conditions developing off the coast near Sri Lanka. 

Reports say at least 17 people have died in the state in incidents triggered by the rains this week.