96 cm rainfall in 24 hours brings southern Tamil Nadu to its knees

People marooned in residential colonies were evacuated by authorities and were housed in relief centres, such as neighbourhood schools and marriage halls and over 7,000 people are housed in such facilities.

Chennai: Unprecedented extremely heavy rainfall for about 24 hours left four southern Tamil Nadu districts, including Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, completely battered, marooning several towns and villages with lakhs of people trapped inside their homes. At least three people were killed in rain-related incidents.

Massive efforts are being mounted by the state government with help from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and armed forces to rescue people from low-lying areas which have been completely cut-off from other areas.

The rainfall was so heavy that Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi received a whopping 96 cm rainfall in just 24 hours, which is much more than the annual rainfall the small town records in a normal year, while the average rainfall in the district stood at 38 cm. The average rainfall in Tirunelveli district was 39 cm in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Monday.

The impact was massive as the railway station and district collectorate in Thoothukudi were under water till the time of writing, while air operations came to a halt in the port city. The situation in Tirunelveli was extremely grim as the junction bus stand was swamped along with several localities which reported neck-high water.

People living in many localities in the core city area and suburbs were confined to their homes where water level was high. Train and bus operations in most parts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari, and Tenkasi were suspended till Tuesday, even as the state government extended public holiday for the first two districts on Tuesday as well.

Thamirabarani, the only river that takes birth in Tamil Nadu and flows within the state, its tributaries, and other rivers in the districts are at spate, with over 1 lakh cusecs of water being released from dams, which could further flood the low-lying areas. Reports from the region said several villages on the banks of Thamirabarani were marooned with no contact being established with people living there.

“Such extremely heavy rainfall has never occurred in the past. We received an alert from IMD that there could be extremely heavy rainfall which is about 20 cm. But Kayalpattinam alone received 96 cm of rainfall in just 24 hours,” Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena told a press briefing in Chennai.

He said as many as 17 teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) with about 425 personnel have been pressed into service to rescue people living in low-lying areas by using boats.

Meena said as many as 7.500 people have been rescued and lodged at about 84 relief centres in Tirunelveli district, while 84 boats have been deployed in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts to rescue people from marooned localities.

“More boats are being sent to Thoothukudi, Srivaikundam, and Kayalpattinam which are among the worst-affected areas,” the top bureaucrat said.

As Chief Minister M K Stalin left New Delhi to attend the I.N.D.I.A. parties meeting and to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the flood situation – he did conduct a review meeting via video conferencing. Governor R N Ravi has convened a meeting on Tuesday with senior officials of Central agencies and armed forces to review the present situation in flood-affected districts.

Rain water to the level of five to six feet entered houses in several localities with many taking to social media to seek help from administration. Several towns have been cut off from the rest of the district due to heavy rains.

The requests on social media included rescue via boats to essentials to milk for children.

Independent weather blogger Pradeep John said Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi records 93 cm in 24 hours which is more than their annual rainfall falling in a day. “This is the highest ever rainfall recorded in plains in Tamil Nadu in 24 hours and the second highest rainfall after Manjolai (96.5 cm recorded in 1992),” he said.