Jayan, a resident of the landslide-hit Chooralmala in Kerala, was fast asleep in his house on the night of July 29. The calm and serene residential location in Wayanad’s Chooralmala was reverberating with the thumping sounds of the torrential rains outside.
At 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jayan woke up upon hearing a loud noise. As he rushed outside his house, he saw flood waters gushing just outside his house and saw people rushing to their terraces, screaming out for help.
“There was no power or light. We saw people screaming for help on the other side of the flood waters, but no one could reach there as slush and rapid waterflow prevented them,” the middle-aged man with a stress-stricken face told PTI as he recounted the horrible sequence of events during the early morning hours on Tuesday.
Jayan and family, a family of casual labourers, usually go to sleep around 9:30 p.m. after having their dinner.
On Monday night as well, the family, like most others in the area, went to bed at the same time, unaware of the worst fate that was in store for them.
Everyone at Chooralmala thought that the 1:30 p.m. landslide would be the only one, and many had gone back to bed, hoping that others who screamed for help would be safe.
“But, around 3:30 a.m., there was a louder noise and everything got over in a flash. Huge boulders and mud with extreme force had taken away all the houses where people earlier cried for help. We did not know what to do as what we saw was nothing but mud, water, and debris flowing in front of us,” Jayan said.
Most of the houses in the area vanished within no time, with no signs of life left around. The slush and boulder-filled waters crushed the buildings with people inside. An area that was once full of life suddenly became a river, with slush and debris strewn all around.
Everyone who managed to stay safe was crying out loud, calling the names of their dear ones.
Jayan knew that his wife’s relatives, who lived in the most affected areas, were missing.
“11 members from my wife’s family are missing. We identified the body of a child that was recovered from Chaliyar river in Nilambur in Malappuram district as one of my relative’s. We have only got three dead bodies so far and the remaining are still missing,” a teary-eyed Jayan said.
With a blue plastic rain cover folded and kept inside his arms, Jayan has been waiting in the area, examining each and every person recovered from the site, anxiously ensuring that it does not belong to his wife’s family.
“I am waiting here, hoping that we will get some information about our missing family members,” said Jayan.
His wait may go on for a few more days as the rescuers are tirelessly digging through the mud and debris in the area, looking out for the dead and also hoping to pull someone out alive.
Many, like Jayan, are wandering in the area, rushing to the rescuers as they pull bodies out, and hopefully waiting to have the last glance of their dear ones who have been swept away in the flash floods.
