Coimbatore: Personnel from the fire brigade department rescued as many as 600 people from flooded houses at various parts of the city here, on Friday.
Sources said, following continuous downpour for 48 hours, the city recorded 244 mm rainfall across the district according to 8 am status on Friday.
The heavy downpour began to play havoc since early hours of Friday, after Noyal river overflowed and entered nearby residential areas, triggering panic.
A weather report released on Friday morning predicted very heavy rains for the Nilgiris and Coimbatore for two consecutive days.
The Noyal waters entered 33 houses in Aathumedu village near Perur in the city's suburbs. On receiving information, 26 fire brigades from Coimbatore South and North rushed to the spot and rescued 55 residents including children and women.
The river flooded the Ambedkar Nagar - Noyal street near Ondipudhur - Kamatchipuram in suburbs, where 500 residents were trapped under four-ft of water. Fire brigade personnel, block development officials, VOA and health inspectors rushed to the spot, rescued and took them to a nearby school.
A low-level bridge across the Noyal was washed away in flash floods near Sulur on Friday morning, disconnecting the route to Ravathoor village from Tiruchy road. Over 100 residents were also rescued from Asath Nagar near Karumbbukkadai and made to stay in a nearby Arabic school.
Meanwhile, routine life in Coimbatore has been affected following continuous heavy rains and flash floods in rivers and canals across the district. For the fifth consecutive day the Bhavani river is in spate. A contingent of the disaster management team has landed at Mettupalayam as precautionary measure.
The Pillur dam is almost brimming, having reached a level of 97.50-ft against its full level of 100-ft. Considering the safety of dam 48,500 cusecs water is being released through Bhavani River. The Siruvani dam is also filling up.
District collector, K. Rajamani, inspected rain-affected the spots including Mathampatti bridge, Chinnar, Kurichi Check dam, Narasipuram, Vaithagi check dams and downstream areas on the river bank of Bhavani. Some low-level bridges in the city are also under water. The Coimbatore GH has been surrounded by rain water, inconveniencing patients.
