Snakes to people, TN floods keep rescuers busy

During the heavy rains through the week Chennai and other regions of Tamil Nadu not only inflatable boats, but preparedness, determination and presence of mind came in handy for personnel including the policemen and women, civic and forest workers who rescued people, animals and snakes.

When a resident in Chennai was about to be washed away in floods, being caught in a gush of whirling flood water amid pounding rains, alert armed reserve police personnel rescued him despite challenges and by sheer determination.

It later emerged that the rescued man, identified as Sudhakar of Pulianthope area, had tried to save another man, 40-year old Ezhumalai, from being carried away by strong water currents. Ezhumalai, however, could not be saved despite efforts and he lost his life.

Some people like a plumber, Kesavan, however, lost their lives as they did not take precaution. Out of curiosity, when the inebriated worker went too close to the swollen Cooum river, he tripped and fell into the river and was drowned.

So far at least 14 people have died in rain related incidents in Tamil Nadu.

When civic workers were cutting down a huge fallen tree Chennai, a lengthy snake quietly surfaced from the dense foliage. An expert snake catcher, deployed by the forest department, rescued it with ease.

So far over 20 snakes including venomous varieties were rescued during the rains in the past few days, a forest official in Chennai said.

During the rains, the official said many phone calls were received reporting sighting of snakes. Sufficient number of personnel, who are experts in catching snakes and volunteers were also deployed by the government.

"We will release snakes caught in the city. These reptiles will be safely set free in reserve forest areas near Mambakkam or Tiruporur off city limits," the official told PTI.

Be it the state disaster response force, civic bodies or the state disaster management teams, they did their best with the support of volunteers in several areas to try and rescue not only people but also cattle.

Stray cows were rescued from a locality and provided food in Chennai, and priority was given by them to ensure food supply to the elderly people in flooded localities.

The Tamil Nadu police deployed 75,000 of its personnel, 350 of its coastal security group men, also well experienced in use of kayak, a 250-member special force trained for disaster scenarios besides trained 364 Home Guard men.

The National Disaster Response Force personnel usually use life jackets, life buoys, rain coats and inflatable boats during rescue operations. But, the idea to carry a large tarpaulin like rain-resistant sheet came in handy for them Chennai.

While rescuing a woman and her child from a heavily flooded locality amid heavy rains at suburban Perumbakkam, four NDRF personnel held the sheet above, that looked like a mega size umbrella and the lady and her little girl were safely rescued.

From the same location, they also carried an elderly woman in a plastic chair while a rescue worker carried an umbrella to protect the senior citizen from rains.

Despite risks, the NDRF teams rescued electricity workers stranded on the top of a high-rise, electricity transmission tower at Tiruporur near Chennai.

The police personnel's knowledge of local topography aided them a lot in lending a helping hand to people.

When the travails of a 61-year old woman, who was living alone and could not walk was made worse by the inundation, the Madhavaram police pitched in.

Helped by fire and rescue personnel, the policemen arrived at her water-logged home, carried her all the way amid showers to a police vehicle stationed nearby.

They dropped her safely at a relative's home in another area. She had recently undergone a leg surgery and could not walk.

A woman police officer rescued a cemetery worker, who appeared unconscious, by carrying him on her shoulder from the premises of a graveyard in Chennai.

She lifted the man, who was lying on the wet ground and carried him on her shoulder to the street and rushed him to a nearby government hospital in an autorickshaw.

Her humanitarian gesture won her appreciation from Chief Minister M K Stalin and director general of police, C Sylendra Babu.

The police said till Friday afternoon, a total of 3,428 people stuck in low lying areas were evacuated and the city police deployed 13 special rescue teams.

The police and other government personnel used inflatable boats and catamarans to rescue people from several flooded localities. Elderly people, pregnant women and children were accorded priority.

The Coast Guard deployed five flood relief teams for augmenting the flood relief operations of civic authorities.

In coordination with fisheries department, the CG ensured safe return of all fishing boats of Tamil Nadu to shore well ahead of the landfall of the depression, a defence release in Chennai said.

In Chennai, 2,699 people from rain-hit areas have been sheltered in 44 relief centres by corporation authorities and a total of 28,64,400 packets of food have been distributed to them over the past six days.

Across Tamil Nadu, over 15,000 people have been evacuated and housed in over 290 relief camps. Such facilities include the northern districts of Chengelpet, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Tiruvallur, Vellore and Villupuram besides the Cauverty delta regions.

The depression over Bay of Bengal crossed the coast near Chennai on Thursday while the state, particularly the northern and delta regions witnessed heavy rains from the night of November 6 though there was a let up now and then.