Guys please help the people in Chennai, your contributions very much appreciated..

As you may have heard, as of this morning, the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India has been drowning in the highest rainfall it has seen in 114 years. Chennai is 4^th largest metropolitan city with over 4.3 million people. Over 20% of the Indians from our Ross class call this our hometown - with direct or extended families still living there (you might know some of us – Ashwin, Sriram, Archit, Aswin, Sruthi, Mrinalini, Harsha, Preetha, Sneha).

We have been trying to reach our families and friends to ensure everyone is safe.

Chennai has been declared a disaster zone and the Army, Navy teams have been brought in for rescue operations. Thousands of people have been evacuated and require immediate food, drinking water and medical supplies. The low lying areas and many homes have been completely submerged, leaving people stranded on the rooftops/ terraces without enough food, water, electricity or medical supplies. So far, we have lost over 250 people to the calamity.

Here is where we need your help.

The victims of Chennai need essentials such as food, drinking water, and medical supplies. Your donation can help them get these items.

Please click on this link on the top right 'Make Payment" to make a donation! We will update everyone with how much we have raised.

Thanks in advance for your immense support and please spread the word!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at:

Sneha Venkatachalam – snehav@umich.edu

Preetha Lakshminarayanan – lpreetha@umich.edu

More news articles can also be found on these websites:

(1)    Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/12/03/chennai-floods-death-toll-rises-modi-surveys-damage/

(2)    New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/world/asia/india-floods-threaten-southern-state.html?_r=0

(3)    BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34992000?OCID=fbasia&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook

(4)    Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/With-Chennai-marooned-naval-base-to-act-as-civilian-airport/articleshow/50016359.cms