Heart-warming scenes of humanity have emerged from amid the chaos of flash floods in parts of Chennai, speaking to the spirit of a city that faced a similar nightmare six years ago.
More than 400 neighbourhoods in the city have been flooded and government officials have been using pumps to drain some communities that had been stranded waist deep. Several districts in Tamil Nadu are on high alert, bracing for more torrents as a depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal was set to cross northern Tamil Nadu on Thursday evening. The Indian Meteorological Department warned of intense rains in isolated places.
The heavy rains first struck over the weekend, hitting Chennai. Photos and videos from the city showed residents wading through knee-deep waters and vehicles nearly submerged in the heavily flooded roads. Among these, videos and photos showing citizens helping each other and wading through the water to save animals have been widely shared on social media.
One of the visuals to have gone viral is that of police inspector Rajeshwari springing forth to save the life of a man believed to have died after being struck by an uprooted tree. The young man was found unconscious on the side of a road in Kilpauk next to an uprooted tree. Police were called to the scene by passers-by and told over phone that the youth had died.
EXPLAINED | Why Chennai Downpours Are Reviving Memories Of 2015 Floods
However, when TP Chathiram police inspector Rajeswari reached the spot, she realised on close examination that the man was breathing. Without a moment’s hesitation, the inspector lunged the man across her shoulder and loaded him into an autorickshaw with directions to the driver to rush to Kilpauk Government Hospital. Her timely intervention saved the young man’s life, earning inspector Rajeswari laurels from netizens.
Similarly, videos of sanitation workers toiling away in heavy rains to clear roads of garbage that could clog drains went viral from the Royapetta area.
Yet another video showed a man stepping into a sewage canal to rescue a puppy that had fall into knee-deep water even as the pup’s mother wailed nearby.
In a relief camp in Perungudi, police celebrated the first birthday of a baby girl, surprising her family members with a birthday cake. They also distributed chocolates among others seeking shelter there, decorating the camp with balloons and bringing gifts.
Meanwhile, flights into Chennai have been suspended with departures continuing as normal. The rains this week are among the heaviest to hit the city since 2015. Experts have warned that more heavy rains can trigger further flooding and devastation. Rains at this time in Tamil Nadu are not unusual, but experts have warned that climate change has exacerbated the problem, making the downpours more intense and frequent.
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