Happy to be alive, despite losing everything to flood

In Chengannur, several people took refuge on their terraces for nearly four days braving rain

August 19, 2018 11:21 pm | Updated August 20, 2018 08:25 am IST - Chengannur (Alappuzha)

The afternoon sun plays hide and seek with clouds in Chengannur. Vehicles with banners ‘a helping hand for the flood-affected’ are plying frequently on the Main Central (MC) Road. A few trucks carrying fishing boats and rescue workers are parked on the roadside. Other than this, the Chengannur town looks weary without bustling life, and shops and establishments remain shut.

Santhosh Thomas, owner of Kannattu Gold Loan, along with two others are engaged in cleaning his shop at Chengannur town. He reached his shop after four days, to see it filled with mud and floodwater.

“The town was filled with floodwaters till Saturday. Although water receded, the destruction the floods caused was enormous. Our lives have turned upside down. It will take weeks and months before normalcy is returned,” Mr. Thomas says.

Still grim

In Mangalam, a few kilometres from Chengannur town, the situation still remains grim. The Pampa river flows under the Mithrapuzha bridge in full force. A few metres down, the Chengannur-Othara Road remain inundated.

The bridge has been remaining closed for vehicular traffic for several days. The flood has left a trail of destruction in the area. Several houses are submerged and coconut trees and plantain crops remain under water.

A few people wade through the water at Vazhar Mangalam just to see their submerged houses.

“The water submerged my house around 7 p.m. on Wednesday. My family, including parents, wife and son, were rescued in a boat. Later, we moved to a relative’s home,” says Santhosh P. George, looking at his partially submerged house. The residents say they survive on the water and food packets being distributed by relief teams.

Sussamma George says several people are still stranded in the interior parts of the region. “Our house was inundated and we took refuge on the terrace. We are so happy to be alive,” she says.

At Christian College, which has been turned into a relief camp and rescue operation centre, helicopters of the Air Force are landing and taking off frequently. Hundreds of people have taken refuge in the classrooms of the college.

Although they lost everything in the floods, people say they are happy to be alive.

Kavitha and her family, hailing from Pandanad, had to go through the ordeal of living on the terrace of their house for four days braving torrential downpours before a fishing boat came to their rescue.

“The floodwater submerged our house almost entirely. There was no connectivity and food and water. Now, I feel that I have just passed through hell. We don’t know how we survived. The only relief is that we are all alive,” she says.

Kochukunjamma from Pandanad says her family was trapped in the initial days of the flooding and rescued using a rope, one end of which was tied to a boat and another on to a pole. “We have been living in a small house and it got submerged quickly. We are lucky to be alive.”

She added that the conditions in the relief camp were good and authorities were taking care of everything.

At the receiving end

Places such as Pandanad, Edanad, Thiruvanvandoor, and Mangalam have been badly affected. Although majority of the stranded people have been rescued, several people are still trapped in these areas. A large number of people in these areas have been rescued by fishermen from Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam in their boats.

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