DHARMAPURI/VELLORE: Strong winds accompanied by mild rains caused destruction to dozens of buildings and uprooted several trees in 20 villages in Nallampalli, Harur, and Pappireddipatti taluk on Wednesday.
As many as 220 electricity poles in Nallampalli and Adhiyamankottai substation were damaged. Many sheds used by farmers too were blown away by the strong winds, said Revenue officials. However, no casualties were reported.
The winds caused by cyclone Fani which reached the northern parts of Tamil Nadu touched speeds between 60 and 80 km/hr.
The disaster management team led by Sub-collector Sivan Arul has begun surveying works. “Over 8mm of rainfall has been recorded in the district,” he said. When asked about compensation, he said that it cannot be discussed before the survey concludes.
The district administration has also taken up road clearance works in villages of Bhagalahalli, Gangalapuram, and Sivadi in Nallampalli taluk. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has dispatched 120 employees to restore powers to Nallampalli and Adhiyamankottai substation. According to engineers in the TNEB, “We are working to restore power at the earliest. Engineers have been working since Wednesday 1 am to clear trees on roads and reconstruct poles. We are supplied with sufficient equipment and manpower,” they said and added that once the transformers were repaired, every house would receive electricity. People from Nallampalli, Harur, and Pappireddipatti have filed petitions with the district administration and Taluk Office seeking aide for the reconstruction of houses.
Meanwhile, winds that swept Ambur and Vaniyambadi regions in Vellore district on Tuesday evening caused widespread damage to the crops and properties. Apart from the death of 8 calves after the roof of a cowshed collapsed in Vallipattu, over 450 plantains have been destroyed in the region.
The wind had lasted for more than an hour, snapping overhead cables, damaging ceilings of houses and compound walls. In Ambur, over 300 plantains that were awaiting harvest in one-and-half months were destroyed in the wind. “The trees were planted in a one-acre land. There is no way we can recover the plants as they were cut in the middle and fell over,” said S Vishnu, the land owner’ son.
Over 15 Agathi Keerai trees planted in the land were also uprooted. The farm land is located at Sandrorkuppam in Ambur. In another incident, over 150 plantains were damaged during the wind that struck Ramusettikuttai in Ambur on Tuesday evening. An overhead electric cable near Kannigapuram was snapped and compound wall of a mosque in Ambur collapsed, sources said. The fierce wind also resulted in mild showers across Ambur.
Villages in Vallipattu, Vijilapuram, and Palapanur in Vaniyambadi too witnessed damage to plantain crops. Sources said over hundreds of trees fell during the wind. However, the exact number of trees fell is not established. Also as many as eight calves were killed after the roof of the cowshed inside which they were tethered in had collapsed on them at Vallipattu.