The 1923 Tamirabharani floods was caused by over 42.3 cm of rain spread over two days in composite Tirunelveli then. It had caused damage to Tirunelveli similar to that faced by south Tamil Nadu now.
Around the same time, a century ago, Srivaikundam railway station and some other stations were flooded for four days from December 16.
The Hindu had then reported on the damage to Ambasamudram bridge and breaches in various railway lines, including the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur lines. There were reports of loss of about 20,000 cattle then due to flooding and on damage suffered by salt pans and railway and telegraph communication, which were cut off and about 10,000 people were left homeless.
K. Srikanth, blogger with Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam, said the rain spell was spread between December 13 and 18 then, and the intense spell occurred on December 16 and 17. This year, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi faced the deluge in a gap of 24-36 hours.
In 1923, Tirunelveli and Kadayam had received 44.2 cm and 43.4 cm of rains respectively in one week. Similarly, Palayamkottai (37.8 cm) and Tenkasi (37.2 cm) were among the locations that received heavy rain. This year, Kayalpattinam received nearly 118 cm of rain on December 17 and December 18.
Kulasekarapattinam had recorded 10 cm or more of rain 44 times between 1901 and 1970. Similarly, Tiruchendur had recorded over 10 cm of rain 47 times between 1914 and 1970. “Whenever the Tamirabharani received rain in the Ghat areas, it reflected in the plains. The river has changed courses multiple times and flood risk is higher in south Tamil Nadu,” he said. While the hilly terrain of Ketty in the Nilgiris district had previously received record rain of 82 cm on November 10, 2009; Vandavasi, Tiruvannamalai district, had registered 71 cm of heavy rain on August 5, 1965.
Y.E.A. Raj, former Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, said Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi district recorded 95 cm of rain in 24 hours. This is the highest ever rainfall recorded in the plains in Tamil Nadu in a single day and also the second highest rainfall of 96.5 cm registered after Kakkachi (Manjolai) in 1990.
He recalled that the upper Kodaiyar received enormous amount of rain during 1992. At Kuthiraivetti, a place near Manjolai estate, nearly 99 cm of rainfall was reported to have been received then. However, it was not accounted for properly.
Frequent floods
Noting that the Tamirabharani had a history of frequent floods, he said it was reported that python eggs were washed to the plains through the river in the downpour during the 1992 cyclone. The pythons, which were spotted in the plains, were released into the forest.
Listing out some of the top events involving 24 hours rainfall in the State, R. Pradeep John, who runs the Tamil Nadu Weatherman blog, said besides Kakkachi and Avalanche, Manjolai in Tirunelveli district received 82 cm of rainfall on November 14, 1992. Nalamukku in Tirunelveli district had recorded 61 cm of rain on the same day.
