IDUKKI: One person died and many houses were damaged in the heavy rain and wind that lashed across district on Saturday. Prabhavathy Sankar, 46, a resident of Mali near Vandiperiyar in Idukki died after an uprooted tree fell on her on Saturday. She was working in the estate when the accident happened.Even though she was rushed to a private hospital at Kattapana, she died on the way. Manjula, who was with Prabhavathy, suffered minor injuries in the incident.Several houses were completely destroyed while many others were partially damaged in the heavy wind at Marayur near Munnar. Locals said livestock, crops and property were damaged in the rain.
Heavy wind, which started blowing at Marayur by 1 pm on Saturday, subsided only by 6 in the evening. Majority of the destruction was reported from Babu Nagar, Nachivayal, Cheruvadu tribal colony and Pambanmala estate areas near Marayur.
Houses in the tribal colonies were completely destroyed. A huge eucalyptus tree which stood on the PWD officer premises at Marayur collapsed over the mess building of near-by police station. A huge tragedy was averted the mess was empty. Roof top solar panels at St Mary’s School, Marayur, fell down in the heavy rain. As many as five solar panels were damaged in the wind. Since it was holiday, there were no children at the school.