The summer showers that lashed the city and its suburbs on Tuesday not only gave a respite for the people from the soaring mercury level but also increased water levels in many reservoirs.
The district recorded a total rainfall of 365.90 mm and the average rainfall stood at 30.49 mm.
Annur recorded a rainfall of 13 mm, Peelamedu Airport 32.50, Mettuppalayam 37, Pollachi 50, Periyanaickenpalayam 62, Sulur 48, TNAU 70, Chincona 10, Kallar 7, Valparai PAP 11, Valparai Taluk 8 and Coimbatore South 17.40.
The downpour resulted in uprooting of trees and breaking of branches, leading to snapping of power lines and resulting in power outage in many areas.
Several parts of Peelamedu and Vadavalli went without power supply for longer duration since Tuesday evening. This kept the TANGEDCO people on their toes for restoring the power supply.
Land slips at various places along the ghat section of Mettuppalayam – Coonoor section resulted in disruption in traffic and officials had to divert the vehicular traffic via Kotagiri from midnight to morning as a measure of precaution.
Heavy rain led to damage of crops in Perur Aatuppalam area. Uprooting of trees and falling of huge branches on the railway line between Mettuppalayam and Karamadai also delayed the operation of the Mettuppalayam – Chennai Nilagiri Express on Tuesday night.
Inundation
Uprooting of trees, breaking of branches at Gandhipuram, R.S. Puram, Lawley Road, Karamadai and Peelamedu, and flooding and inundation was reported at Sai Baba Colony.
Power leak from a cable claimed the life of a bull at Peelamedu. Mohanraj (32) who used to ferry water in bullock carts to houses and commercial establishments was on his routine job on Thursday morning.
When he was on the bullock cart near Peelamedu, the bull suffered a shock and collapsed as it stepped into a pool of stagnated water.
Mohanraj, who tried to rescue the bull, also suffered a mild shock. It is learnt that power leak from an underground cable had led to the incident. Peelamedu police are investigating.
In another bizarre incident, Praveen (28) of Neelikonampalayam who was on a two-wheeler and hit by gusty whirlwinds and power outage, lost control over his two-wheeler and fell upside down into a roadside storm water drain.
The private firm manager died on the spot. Because of the power outage, residents noticed the tragic accident and the death only on Wednesday morning.
Summer showers brought some relief for the Parambikulam – Aliyar Project (PAP) areas.
Heavy rain helped improvement of storage to some extent in the PAP areas (Full Storage Level in brackets).
Sholayar had 38.91 (160 ft) and inflow was 65 cusecs and outflow was nil), Parambikulam had 43.40 ft (72 ft) and the inflow was 61 cusecs and outflow was 107 cusecs and rainfall was 32 mm, Aliyar had 103.90 ft (120) and inflow was 127 cusecs and outflow was 90 cusecs and the rainfall was 41.5 mm, Thirumurthy had 24.13 ft (70) and the inflow was nil and the outflow was 1050 cusecs and rainfall was 8 mm, Amaravathy had 18.20 (90) and inflow was 24 mm and outflow was 204 mm and rainfall was 7 mm.
PAP regions recorded the following rainfall in mm: Upper Nirar 7, Lower Nirar 6, Thoonakadavu 34, Peruvaripallam 37, Upper Aliyar 30, Valparai 11, Pollachi 78, Manacadavu 35, Pongalur 14, Nallur 19, Navamalai 17 and Sircarpathy 35.
Though it was a day of sunshine, the reservoirs continued to receive inflow from the upper reaches of the hilly terrain and the storage is expected to slightly improve further.
Our Tirupur Staff Reporter adds :
The wind that accompanied the rain on Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday caused damage to banana raised over 30 hectares in Tirupur district.
Preliminary assessment conducted in the evening indicated that damage was reported primarily from villages under Avinashi block.
Almost 25,000 plants had been cut from the middle due to the wind, official sources told The Hindu .
