Heavy rain led to flash floods and landslips in and around Coonoor on Sunday morning.
After a spell of heavy rain from Saturday night to Sunday morning, ten motorcycles and a few cars were washed away when the Coonoor river overflowed.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel said a section of the river, which narrows at a particular area, flooded the surrounding roads on Sunday morning, resulting in vehicles parked by the side of the road near Krishnapuram in Coonoor getting washed away. The fire service personnel were trying to retrieve the vehicles.
Landslips were also reported in 14 locations along the Coonoor to Mettupalayam Road and the Coonoor to Ooty Road, leading to traffic to Udhagamandalam town being diverted via Kotagiri Road on Sunday morning.
Officials from the National Highways said eight of the landslips were major and that five earthmovers worked since early Sunday morning to clear the roads of traffic. Most of the landslips were cleared by afternoon, they said. The Nilgiris district administration said Coonoor town received around 139 mm of rainfall till Sunday morning.
