Heavy rainfall and strong winds which lashed the district on Thursday claimed the life of a Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) staffer. Trees were uprooted at several places affecting traffic and causing damage to houses and power lines.
Ajayakumar, an electricity worker at the KSEB section office, Nedumangad, died after a tree fell on him at Uzhamalackal. The tree was uprooted in the strong wind which lashed the region in the morning.
Ajayakumar, who lived at Suvarna Nagar, Uzhamalackal, was riding his motorcycle to work on the Uzhamalackal-Manjamoola road. The tree crashed down on a 33 kV transmission tower and over Ajayakumar, according to the Aryanad police and the KSEB. Although he was rushed to the Government Hospital at Nedumangad, he could not be saved.
The body was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital for COVID-19 test. Ajayakumar leaves behind wife Kavitha and two children.
Two houses were destroyed in Thursday’s rain while 47 others - majority of them in the Nedumangad region - sustained partial damage in the district.
Five families were evacuated after the sea entered 20 houses at Cheriyamuttom at Poonthura. Various stations of the Fire and Rescue Services in rural Thiruvananthapuram received numerous calls pertaining to fallen trees and damaged power cables. In the city limits, trees were uprooted at Keraladityapuram and Paruthippara.
At Pankavu, a tree fell over an anganwadi building. No one was hurt, the Fire and Rescue Services unit at Neyyar Dam said. A tree fell over a house at Balaramapuram in the Neyyatinkara fire station limits around 7 a.m. on Thursday. No casualties were reported.
Traffic hit
Traffic was hit at many places after trees fell across roads. This included the Panavur-Attinpuram road, Anad, Iravur-Mandackal road, Uzhamalackal-Manjamoola road, Paruthipally, Kottoor, Panniyode and Vattavila. Power supply was yet to be restored in many areas. Meanwhile, two shutters of the Peppara dam were raised by 10 cm each following increased inflow from the catchment areas.