The “red alert” issued by the India Meterological Department predicting “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, and Thoothukudi districts on May 18 turned to be a damp squib as there was no rain in any part of these three districts throughout the day.
The IMD on May 15 issued “heavy to very heavy rain” alert for Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, and Kanniyakumari districts between May 15 and 19. The IMD’s bulletin, which was shared with the District Collectors concerned by the State government, said the four southern districts will experience isolated “heavy rainfall” from May 15 to 17 and “very heavy rainfall” on May 18 and 19.
Even as the district administrations took all possible efforts to face any emergency situation, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel were stationed in all four districts to strengthen relief and rescue operations.
While the Kanniyakumari district, especially places close to the Western Ghats of the district, recorded moderate to heavy rain, there was incessant drizzle in other parts of the district from May 15 to 17. Similar rain pattern was experienced in Tenkasi district where the brief downpour in the hilly region triggered flash floods in the Old Courtallam Falls on Friday.
However, the coastal districts of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi did not get any significant rain during this period even though the IMD had warned of isolated “heavy rainfall” from May 15 onwards.
Even as the IMD had predicted “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in the four southern districts on May 18 and 19, it was a sunny day in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi on Saturday while Tenkasi experienced brief showers for about 15 minutes in the afternoon.
However, Kanniyakuamri district experienced widespread rain on Saturday afternoon. While places such as Mayilaadi (65 mm), Nagercoil (32), Kozhiporevilai (20), Perunchaani Dam (12), and Puththen Dam (11) received decent rain, the other places experienced only drizzle till 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Kanniyakumari District Collector P.N. Sridhar visited the Petchipaarai and Perunchaani Dams on Saturday to inspect the storage level in these reservoirs and checked the inflow and outflow. SDRF personnel, who have been stationed at Kanniyakumari, Killiyoor, and Thiruvattar areas, will be rushed to the areas based on the distress calls received.
In Tirunelveli district, Papanasam Dam (27 mm) and Radhapuram (19) recorded some rainfall while there is no rain in other parts of the district on Saturday.
Advisory to public
District Collector K.P. Karthikeyan has cautioned the public against entering the waterbodies and the Tamirabharani and other rivers for taking bath since sudden downpour would trigger flash floods. Similarly, the public should not take bath in the rough sea, he said.
Since there was no rain in any part of Thoothukudi district on Saturday, Collector G. Lakshmipathy inspected ongoing development works in Sethukkuvaaiththaan, Varandiyavel, Azhagappapuram, Naalumaavadi and Suganthalai village panchayats in Alwarthirunagari union along with Additional Collector (Development) R. Aishwarya.
