Heavy rainfall in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday brought huge relief from sultry conditions, but also caused considerable damages.
Accompanied by continuous lightning, the rainfall inundated low-lying areas in and around the city. At a number of houses along Teppakulam street, and in some of the localities in Soorampatti, Karunkalpalayam and Marappaalam, overflowing rainwater entered households, throwing life out of gear.
At Karunkalpalayam, a huge tree fell on powerline, rendering people without electricity throughout the night hours.
There was a similar occurrence at Municipal Colony due to which there was power disruption in the Veerappanchathiram area. At the Railway Junction, a tree fell on a parked car. And, at the VOC Park area, a wall gave away due to the impact of the heavy rainfall.
Erode received the highest rainfall of 100 mm during the last 24 hours ending 8 a.m. Thursday. Rainfall in other places: Bhavani - 91, Kavindapadi - 91, Arachalur - 63, Chennimalai - 58, Muthur - 54 and Modakurichi - 47.
Thanks to the rain, the dry condition in the ayacut area of Lower Bhavani Project canal has been remedied.
There has been enough percolation for continuing with agricultural activities for the next one month, Agriculture Department sources said.
In turn one area where gingelly is in harvest stage, as well as in turn two area where tapioca, sugarcane and maize are being sown in some parts and are in vegetative stage in other parts, the rainfall would turn beneficial, the sources said. Likewise, in the rain-fed areas of the district, the downpour would help in summer ploughing.
Syed Muthahar Saqaf adds from Salem: Various parts of Salem district experienced widespread rainfall in the early hours of Thursday.
The rural town of Edappadi and the surrounding villages of Poolampatti, Vellari, Sithur experienced downpour since late Wednesday night. The rain inundated the standing crop of cotton, ellu etc. The rainfall also inundated drains in Attur town and all the main roads were overflowing.
The inundation of the Edappadi - Komarapalayam and Jalakandapuram roads affected the free flow of traffic on Thursday morning. The rainfall also hit the business in the uzhavar santhais in the district.
The sky remained overcast for a major part of the day.
In Namakkal, various parts of the district too experienced widespread rainfall in the early hours of Thursday.
Pallipalayam experienced heavy downpour for a few hours in the midnight, uprooting a giant old pipal tree on the bank of river Cauvery. As the tree fell on the electric posts, the electric wires were severed affecting power supply in the area for the whole day.
The tree fall also affected the flow of traffic on the main road in the morning hours.
