CHENNAI: State Revenue and Disaster Management department on Wednesday informed that 12 deaths have been reported in Tamil Nadu in six days.
According to the department, a total of 12 deaths have been reported in Tamil Nadu from May 16 to May 21 due to heavy rains.
Apart from this, 19 livestock deaths and 55 huts and houses were damaged in the last 24 hours due to heavy rains.
In the last 24 hours, one death has been reported in Ranipet district due to thunderstorms, lightning and flood.
“469 people were accommodated in 9 relief camps in Erode, Namakkal and Karur districts. Among them, 68 who were accommodated in 2 camps in Erode district and 77 people who were accommodated in 3 camps in Namakkal district and 325 people who were accommodated in 4 camps in Karur district returned home on Wednesday,” a release from the Revenue and Disaster Management department read.
In order to keep the pubic and tourists safe as the tourist spot in the Western Ghats are likely to receive heavy rains for the next three days, alert SMS has been sent to 4.05 crore cell phones via common alert protocol in Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Dindigul, Coimbatore, The Nilgiris, Virudhunagar and Theni districts on May 18, 19, 20 and 21.
Following the heavy rain warning, 10 teams comprising 296 personnel of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in Kanniyakumari, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and The Nilgiris districts.
As the heavy rain warning has been received, all District Collectors have been advised to follow the Standard Operating Procedures issued for effective management of the disaster situation and take all necessary precautions.
The State Emergency Operations Centre and the District Emergency Operations Centres are functioning round the clock with additional officers and the situation is being monitored continuously.
The Revenue department reiterated that tourists visiting The Nilgiris district should visit with adequate safety measures and if they want to avoid visiting Nilgiris, they can avoid it.