The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued a 55-year-old woman, who was stuck in her house located in the middle of the Koundinya river bed, in waist-deep water, in Gudiyatham on Saturday morning.
The team used drones to locate her and then rescued her using inflatable boats.
According to Sheikh Mansoor, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Gudiyatham, Ellamal, 51, lives with her husband Muniappan in an elevated surface in the middle of Koundinya river. They have a pigsty.
With 11,000 cusecs of water released from Mordana dam, the river was in spate. “Much before water was released, Muniappan went to the nearest village leaving his wife at home. When he returned, he found that his house was cut off and water was gushing in the river,” the RDO said.
He then approached the local administration and explained the situation. “The Fire and Rescue Services tried for a few hours, but could not rescue her,” he said.
Vellore Collector A. Shanmuga Sundaram called the NDRF and a 16-member team, headed by inspector R.C. Ola, reached Gudiyatham on Friday evening. “They used drones to check her condition. She was stable and had cooked food with some grains she had. So we decided to rescue her on Saturday morning,” said Mr. Mansoor.
On Saturday morning, the NDRF team used boats and ropes and managed to rescue her.
According to officials, they had evacuated most of the houses, but Ms. Ellamal had refused to move.
She said that she did not know that water would be released. “We don’t have a house and my husband also cannot work due to his poor health,” she said.
