COIMBATORE: After a prolonged dry spell, torrential rains lashed the Nilgiris, triggering road blocks, minor landslides and flooding on Monday.

At Kallar near Mettupalayam, a car with a man, his college-going daughter and their driver were swept away after a portion of the road caved in due to erosion in the early morning hours. The man from Sivaganga district was taking his daughter to a private college in Coonoor.

“As the car crossed the Kallar checkpost, a portion of the weakened road collapsed, and the vehicle was swept into a plantation, where it overturned. Soon, some local shopkeepers and police personnel at the nearby check post rushed to the spot, broke open the car windows and rescued all three occupants,” said a cop from Mettupalayam station.

The injured trio were taken by ambulance to Mettupalayam Government Hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Coimbatore for further treatment. Police placed barricades around the damaged stretch as a precaution.

In Coonoor, a huge tree got uprooted onto a car on the Railway Station Road at Aruvankadu, disrupting traffic. Fire and rescue services personnel from the nearby cordite factory rushed to the spot and removed the tree. The tree fall incident led to more than ten villages facing prolonged power outages through the night.

The downpour also triggered boulders to roll down the Coonoor-Mettupalayam Highway, while a minor landslip was reported near Burliar. In Kotagiri, strong winds uprooted two trees, bringing down electricity poles and snapping wires at night.

Firefighters cleared the fallen trees on Monday morning, after which power was restored. Another tree fell across the Kotagiri-Mettupalayam Road. Due to rains, the tourist footfall in popular destinations across the hill district remained low, after a good turnout over the weekend.