Overnight heavy rain that inundated few residential areas in the Madurai city and rural areas, killed a woman, J. Kala (42) near Usilampatti in the early hours of Monday. The average rainfall received in 19 out of the 20 rain gauge stations in the district in the last 24 hours is 42.69 mm.
Kala, along with her husband, Jeyaraj, attempted to cross a supply channel of a tank in Reddiyapatti tank in the Vikramangalam police station limits in the early hours. While Jeyaraj returned, Kala was caught in the flash flood and washed into the tank where she drowned and died, the police said.
“The family had tied some 15 cows on the tank bund on the other side of the channel. She knew how to swim. Yet, it looks like the raincoat she was sporting got entangled in some bush and she drowned,” Usilampatti Tahsildar R. Navaneethakrishnan said. The cows swam to safety, the Tahsildar said.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Usilampatti, led by its Station Fire Officer, C. Karamani, rescued another woman who was trapped inside a house that collapsed in Lingappanaickanur.
Meanwhile, few houses in Oyyandanpatti near Usilampatti were marooned. Some 200 villagers were shifted to the relief centre at a local school. “We provided them breakfast and lunch. Public Works Department and Rural Development officials were trying to drain the water to the next tank,” the Usilampatti Revenue Divisional Officer N. Murugesan said.
Madurai district received 853.70 mm of rainfall. The details of rainfall recorded in various places (in mm): Sittampatti - 122; Viraganur 110.50; Kallanthiri - 90; Tallakulam - 80; Mettupatti - 64; Idayapatti - 57.20; Andipatti - 54.60; Vadipatti - 48, Madurai South - 40.30; Kuppanampatti - 35; Sholavandan - 30.10; Usilampatti - 26.20; Tirumangalam - 22; Airport Madurai - 21.20; Sathiar - 23; Kallikudi - 12.20; Pulipatti - 8.40; Peraiyur - 7 and Melur - 2.
