Indian men with a boat move people to safety on a flooded street after heavy rains in Chennai on Dec. 1, 2015/ Source from AFP, Yonhap News

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - The worst rain in 114 years in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu paralyzed Chennai, India. The city's airport will stay shut for at least a week as the runways are flooded. Railroads are lost and highways are flooded. The death toll in rain-related incidents touched 250, and more than 1 million people have become flood victims.

Chennai, known as "The Detroit of India" and the second biggest IT city, closed car factories and IT companies. Hyundai Motor India, which kept operating in the heaviest downpour in 40 years early last month, has shut production starting on December 1. Factories of other carmakers such as Ford and Renault-Nissan have also shut production.

The Indian government deployed the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel for rescue and relief operations. However, the damage is expected to increase as the city is expected to receive more rain in the future.

An official from Hyundai Motor India told AsiaToday on Thursday, "There is no problem with assembly and production lines, but the factory's neighboring areas are flooded. It's not a situation that employees can go to work, so the company decided to shut down operation. The company will decide to resume the operation watching the situation. But the factory is relatively located in a rain-safe region, so there is no direct damage."