A 90-year-old woman died after her tiled roofed house collapsed due to continuous rain in Arakkonam, near Ranipet, in the early hours on Wednesday.
The police said S. Alamelu lived with her second son S. Manogaran, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a dilapidated house on Mettu Street in Gururajapettai for nearly two decades. After dinner, she went to sleep in one of the rooms while her son slept in another room in the front of the house.
Around 1.30 a.m on Wednesday, the tiled roof collapsed due to the continuous rain. Wooden logs on the roof fell on the woman, who died on the spot. Neighbours and relatives informed the Fire and Rescue Services and the police. After an hour, the body was retrieved and shifted to a government hospital. A case has been filed by the Arakkonam taluk police.
In another incident, a row of five electrical poles on Katpadi Main Road in Gudiyatham was damaged after a tree fell on them due to heavy rain. Traffic was affected for more than an hour as the stretch is a key route for vehicles, including government buses and lorries, from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to reach Tamil Nadu.
Heavy rain in the neighbouring Chittoor district, especially at the Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, since early this month has filled up the reservoir across Mordhana river, a tributary of the Palar, with excess rainwater being discharged.
Residents in Mordhana, Kottaramuduvu, Jittapalli, Seivur, Gudiyatham town, Indira Nagar, Oolakasi, Sittathur and Hyderpuram villages in Gudiyatham taluk have been asked to be careful due to continuous rain, especially during the night.
Among four districts, key towns in Tirupattur like Natrampalli (11.20 mm) and TCS Mill (7 mm) received good rainfall, with a total recorded rainfall of 18.20 mm as of 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
Tiruvannamalai has also been getting good rainfall during June, with a total rainfall of 60 mm. Among major towns, Vembakkam received the maximum with 24 mm, followed by Polur with 15.80 mm, Vandavasi (13 mm) and Arani (5.20 mm).
Likewise, officials said Gudiyatham and Melalathur in Vellore received the highest rainfall in the district with 42 mm and 30 mm respectively. Ranipet district received light rain at Sholinghur (16.2 mm), Walajah (4.5 mm), Ammoor (4.2 mm), Kaveripakkam (4 mm), Arakkonam (2.2 mm), among others.
