4 dead as interior districts of Dindigul, Sivaganga too feel the fury of cyclone

Dindigul is one of the few districts in Tamil Nadu which has not witnessed a cyclone for several years now. Notably, the meteorological department had not issued a warning to the district in any of its reports. Thus, locals had no idea that the cyclone would strike their district.

However, as it eventually turned out, Gaja blew away several structures in the district that came on its path.

It took more than four hours for the cyclone to cross Dindigul district. During that time, it caused the death of two persons. 

The deceased were identified as Neelima (27) of Thrissur in Kerala, who had come to Kodaikanal for a holiday. She died when a tree fell on the car in which she was travelling. 

The other person who died was Karuppasamy (56) of Odaipatti who died after a tree fell on him when he was standing out of his house. Due to the cyclone, there was heavy rain in the district and all the water bodies filled up rapidly.

Varadhamanadhi dam, which had not reached its maximum level in 15 years, was filled up in the space of just three hours as the water level increased by 17 feet.

Due to flooding in Varadhamanadhi dam, the ghat road from Palani to Kodaikanal was blocked and vehicles plying on it were diverted. 

The cyclone caused heavy damage in Kodaikanal as cellphone towers collapsed and several buildings sustained damages. 

Two dead in Sivaganga districtGaja did not spare Sivaganga district either. A large number of trees were uprooted and even buildings collapsed.

Muthukumaran (56), a Revenue Inspector from Sivaganga, died after the wall of his neighbour’s house collapsed on him. 

In another incident, Elizabeth Rani (35), a conservancy worker, died when a tree collapsed and crushed her to death in Tirupattur.