Video Captures Buses Swept Away By Flood Water As Cyclone Fengal Wreaks Havoc In Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Cyclone ‘Fengal’, which made landfall on Saturday along the coastlines of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, caused widespread damages and destruction in the coastal districts of both the state and the Union Territory before getting weak. Apart from torrential rains, which brought life to a halt in the region, the storm caused mass destruction. Several videos and photos have emerged on social media capturing the after-effects of the storm.

One such video captured several buses and heavy vehicles swept away in the current of the flood water after the cyclone made landfall on Saturday. In the video, it can be seen that several buses and other vehicles were swept away from the roads. The cyclone brought a record-breaking 503mm of rainfall at Uthangarai in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, which resulted in overflow of the lake and sweeping away of vehicles parked on the road at the Uthangarai bus stand, on the Vaniyambadi road, in the flood water current. 

Torrential downpours disputed normal lives in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, as the Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) made combined efforts to rescue those stranded in their houses due to the flooding. At least three people were electrocuted to death in separate rain-related incidents.

Despite this, heavy rains and flooding continue to wreak havoc in the region. The flood situation in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district was so destructive that several buses were swept away by floodwaters, causing many on social media to advise people to remain indoors.

The cyclonic storm weakened into a deep depression on Sunday after leaving a trail of destruction in the region. It is likely to move westwards very slowly and weaken gradually into a depression over north Tamil Nadu during the next 12 hours, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Several houses were damaged, residential houses were inundated and trees were uprooted at various places under the impact of Fengal. Power outage was reported in most of the localities since 11 pm on Saturday. Floodwaters also entered the premises of two state-run hospitals in Chennai.

The Indian Army and NDRF teams were called in to carry out rescue operations in Puducherry on a formal request made by the District Collector. Army Forces managed to rescue an infant stranded in a submerged house in Puducherry and carried him on a boat.