Pre-monsoon showers lash many districts

Extreme heavy rainfall in The Nilgiris resulted in several incidents of tree falls, damage to about 20 houses and drowning of crops in fields in the district.

Although the district had been receiving rain at night over the last few days, the shower on Monday night was extremely heavy and it caused widespread damage. The entire Ooty town drowned in darkness due to power outage since midnight.

Tree falls were reported near Samraj Krishnan Kovil, Devarsholai-Ooty Road and on the stretch to Mullimalai near Kilkundah causing traffic congestion over long hours before the uprooted trees were removed.

Five houses in Singarathoppu area were flooded. The families were rescued and were provided with temporary shelter. In Kotagiri, 19 houses were damaged in Konavakarai, Kumaran Colony and Kilatty areas. Tahsildar Mohana visited the damaged houses and issued compensation to the affected families.

A car and a two wheeler were damaged, while the family escaped unhurt after a wall collapsed on a house near Coonoor. Similarly, a couple of two-wheelers parked beneath a bridge at Queensholai area were washed away in the flood.

At Kavilorai, crops raised in over 25 acres of farm land drowned under a blanket of water causing huge losses to farmers. Meanwhile, the Nilgiris District Collector Innocent Divya has issued a flood alert advising people living in low lying areas and banks of Geddai dam to move to safer places owing to the release of surplus water.

People living in low lying areas like Mulli and Pilloor were asked to move to safer regions as well. The Rallia dam has reached its full reservoir level of 43.7 feet and the surplus water has been released. As rains continued to lash Ooty, Manjur, Kotagiri and Coonoor regions since Tuesday morning, people remained indoors affecting normal life.

With barely a few days for North East Monsoon Similarly, Coimbatore and Tirupur districts too received rains on Tuesday. It has also been pouring out during nights in these districts over the last couple of days. Stagnation of water in low-lying traffic junctions resulted in snarls in Coimbatore.  

Heavy rainfall in the Nilgiris resulted in several incidents of tree falls, damage to about 20 houses and drowning of crops in fields in the district.

Although the district had been receiving rain at night over the last few days, the shower on Monday night was extremely heavy and it caused widespread damage. The entire Ooty town drowned in darkness due to power outage since midnight.

Tree falls were reported near Samraj Krishnan Kovil, Devarsholai-Ooty Road and on the stretch to Mullimalai near Kilkundah causing traffic congestion over long hours before the uprooted trees were removed.

Five houses in Singarathoppu area were flooded. The families were rescued and were provided with temporary shelter. In Kotagiri, 19 houses were damaged in Konavakarai, Kumaran Colony and Kilatty areas. Tahsildar Mohana visited the damaged houses and issued compensation to the affected families.

A car and a two wheeler were damaged, while the family escaped unhurt after a wall collapsed on a house near Coonoor. Similarly, a couple of two-wheelers parked beneath a bridge at Queensholai area were washed away in the flood.

At Kavilorai, crops raised in over 25 acres of farm land drowned under a blanket of water causing huge losses to farmers. Meanwhile, the Nilgiris District Collector Innocent Divya has issued a flood alert advising people living in low lying areas and banks of Geddai dam to move to safer places owing to the release of surplus water.

People living in low lying areas like Mulli and Pilloor were asked to move to safer regions as well. The Rallia dam has reached its full reservoir level of 43.7 feet and the surplus water has been released. As rains continued to lash Ooty, Manjur, Kotagiri and Coonoor regions since Tuesday morning, people remained indoors affecting normal life.

With barely a few days for North East Monsoon Similarly, Coimbatore and Tirupur districts too received rains on Tuesday. It has also been pouring out during nights in these districts over the last couple of days. Stagnation of water in low-lying traffic junctions resulted in snarls in Coimbatore.  

Rains lashed parts of Madurai and other districts in the southern region of Tamil Nadu around 9.45 am on Tuesday and continued for hours.

Collector A Sivagnanam said it rained incessantly for about two hours in parts of Sivakasi and surrounding areas. Sivakasi recorded 25 mm of rainfall till evening. The showers, however, did not cause much damage, he said.

The hill station of Kodaikanal in Dindigul district also witnessed intermittent rains. Low lying areas were flooded, claimed sources. Some parts of Andipatti and Varusanadu and its surrounding areas also received rainfall.

Thoothukudi witnessed a considerable amount of rainfall and the situation has led District Administration to declare a holiday for schools on Tuesday.  

Heavy rainfall was also recorded along Western Ghats and Main falls, Five falls and Old falls were flooded. The falls were closed for tourists from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm, claimed sources. Parts of Kanniyakumari, parts of the district have been experiencing irregular rainfall over the last couple of days.

Four women dies after lightning struck them while they were working in the field in Pudukkottai on Tuesday afternoon. It is said, there was a heavy rain lashed across the Pudukkottai district from the morning hours on Tuesday and a group of around 20 women from Tholuthampatti village were engaged in harvesting groundnut at a field in Vaithur village owned by on Santha, a lightening struck soon after the heavy downpour in which Kalaiselvi (45), Lakshmiammal (65) and Santhi (40) were charred to death while the others sustained heavy injuries. Soon, the neighbours rushed the injured to the Pudukkottai Medical College but Vijaya (45) died there despite treatment. The injured who were identified as Saroja, Nagalakshmi, Jayalakshmi, Rengammal, Tamilarasi, Valarmathi, Govindammal, Jayarani, Malar, Meenal, Poomani, Cauvery, Chithra, Lakshmi, Rajammal are undergoing treatment in the Medical College. Meanwhile, the Pudukkottai district collector P Uma Maheswari visited those who have been undergoing treatment in the medical college and consoled them. She also consoled the kins of the deceased. Pudukkottai police are investigating.

A 59-year-old woman died after a boulder rolled down on her while she was plucking plucking tea leaves in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris on Tueday. Police said that Lakshmi, wife of Beeman, and her son used were plucking tea leaves at a private tea estate in Kotagiri in the morning when the incident happened. She was immediately rushed to the Government Hospital, where doctors declared her as brought dead. The Kotagiri police registered a case and further investigations are on. The police believe that the heavy rainfall in the area over the last few days must have loosened the soil underneath the boulder and made it roll off.

A 45-year-old man died of electrocution after being struck by lightning in a village near Kanniyanur in Kancheepuram on Tuesday morning. The deceased was identified as Gopi. He was chopping wood in the area when he was struck. “It started raining suddenly accompanied by thunder and lightning. The lightning hit Gopi and he died on the spot,” said a source. In a second incident, a 38-year-old  woman was struck dead by lightning struck in Ramanathapuram district.  The incident occurred when the deceased, Malar was working on farm land at Ooranikottai village near Thondi.