SIVAGANGA
About 50 trees – some of them 40 years old – were uprooted and about a dozen electric posts damaged as squally winds swept Oothikulam and Sengulam areas in the district on Tuesday night.
Villagers and official sources said after an hour-long rain, accompanied by thunderstorm, high-velocity wind blew across the villages, uprooting trees on the two-km-long road between Oothikulam and Sengulam and damaging more than 10 electric posts. Power supply was disrupted in at least five villages, including Poovali, Nedunkulam and Achankulam.
About 10 houses – tiled and asbestos-roofed – were damaged and three houses were fully damaged as uprooted trees fell on them. Asbestos-roofed houses bore the brunt, the villagers said.
A woman and her three children, including one-year-old twins, got trapped inside their house when a huge tree fell on it at Poovali. As Fire and Rescue Services personnel could not reach the spot immediately, the villagers themselves rescued the mother and her children. The woman’s husband was employed abroad, they said.
Revenue officials visited the affected villages on Wednesday, but the uprooted trees were yet to be removed. Power supply was not restored till late on Wednesday evening, they said.
Sivaganga, Ilayankudi, Tirupuvanam, Tirupattur, Devakottai, Karaikudi a few other places in the district received moderate rains on Monday and Tuesday, official sources said.
The district received an average rainfall of 11.3 mm in 24 hours till Tuesday morning and 7.77 mm till Wednesday morning, the sources said.
Tirupattur received the maximum rainfall of 49 mm, followed by Sivaganga with 36 mm, they added.
