India, Aug. 19 -- Three days of pounding rain left Mumbai bedraggled and weary on Monday, but it wasn't only because several places had breached the 150-mm mark - it was because, in just 81 hours, from Friday to Monday evening, Mumbai recorded 550mm of rain, just 10mm short of the average for the entire month of August.

After a brief lull on Sunday, the monsoon returned with full force. The city woke up to a consistent downpour on Monday, and by afternoon, social media was flooded with images and videos of waterlogging, stalled traffic, delayed trains, wall collapses and tree falls.

From 6am to 2pm, when the rain was heaviest, people struggled to make their way through waist-deep water at Dadar TT, Hindmata and Hindu Colony. Roads in Wa...