A day after severe rain drenched Southern Tamil Nadu, towns transformed into islands, and hundreds were stranded across multiple districts, including Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, and Kanyakumari. A video shows the moment a home fell into a flooded road in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, amid heavy rains. The clip shows the building collapsing to the ground.
The heavy rain also hampered transportation, with at least a dozen trains, as well as bus and air services to Thoothukudi, being cancelled. Exams at Anna University have been postponed, while schools and colleges in various areas have declared vacations.
The damage on infrastructure was visible, with the ground floors of business buildings, hotels, and lodges surrounding the Tirunelveli Junction Bus Stand completely underwater.
The biggest issue is water stagnation, which has flooded entire towns in 3-4 feet of water, with the town bus station inundated in more than 7 feet of water. As a result of the situation, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin instructed authorities to take prudence when controlling lake and canal flows.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the death toll has been surprisingly modest, with local officials reporting only five deaths. A 75-year-old man was murdered in the Ramanathapuram district as a result of a home wall collapse, one of the five confirmed deaths in the state.
The amount of rainfall has been extraordinary. 44.2 cm of rain has fallen at Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli. This exceeds the previous record of 29.2 centimetres set in 1963. Similarly, the maximum December rainfall in Palayamkottai was earlier 20 cm in 1931.
An astonishing 95 cm of rainfall was reported in 24 hours in Kayalpattinam, Thoothukudi district, marking the highest rainfall ever recorded in Tamil Nadu's plains. The raging waters caused severe damage in Virudhunagar and Madurai, causing the Vaigai dam to be opened to control the rising water levels.