Manapparai flooded as 274 mm pours in just two hours

Manapparai flooded as 274 mm pours in just two hours

Manapparai and its surroundings witnessed one of the highest rainfall in their history as 274.6 mm poured in just for two hours (6 am to 8 am) on Monday morning.

The heavy downpour caused all-around mayhem as several places, including the bus stand, were engulfed by water and lakes, tanks across the region suffered breaches. The Ariyaru river swelled precariously leading to sudden floods in several residential areas in Tiruchy. Though there was a heavy rain warning for the entire Tiruchy on Monday, Manapparai alone experienced an unprecedented rainfall of 274.6 mm.

Surprisingly, in most of the places in the district, the weather was dry except for mild showers in Kovilpatti, Pulivalam, Navalur Kuttapattu, and Thuraiyur. Manapparai tank, Appu Ayyar tank, Sevvallur tank, and Kattu Muniyappan tank got filled up due to the heavy downpour and the overflowing water entered residential areas in and around Manapparai.

Meanwhile, the Appu Ayyar tank suffered a breach, and the water flowing out engulfed the Manapparai bus stand, Masthan Nagar and Rajiv Nagar. Around 1,000 houses were 

marooned and people were shocked by the sudden flow.

The Manapparai municipality staff rushed to the spot and plugged the breaches with sand bags. Collector S Sivarasu visited the spots and inspected the repair

works. Sources said that the annual rainfall in Manapparai is estimated to be 900 mm, but for the past 11 months till Monday, it received 1,570 mm rainfall which is 20 per cent more than the annual quantum. 

Meanwhile, the excess water that had flown into the Ariyaru river, caused a breach and the water entered residential areas like Dheeran Nagar, Fathima Nagar, and Vayalur Road. 

Since the water drained into Kudamurutti and Korayaru, the district administration issued a flood warning and the civic staff strengthened the banks to avoid flooding in nearby residential areas. The Poigai Kulam had filled and the excess water was flowing across the causeway at Samuthiram village while around 500 acre of paddy field in Athigarapatti was inundated.