Wayanad, a hilly area in the Western Ghats mountain range, experiences many landslides during the monsoon season. Even though flash flooding and landslides seem to happen frequently, this year seems different. One of the deadliest landslides of the decade occurred in Wayanad, causing mayhem.
Early on July 30, 2024, there were multiple landslides in a number of the villages in the Wayanad area. The amount of rain was so great that it caused slopes to collapse, dumping massive amounts of rock, soil, and water throughout the area. The landslides, which rank among Kerala’s greatest natural disasters ever, leftover 273 people injured, 180 persons reported missing, and at least 386 verified deaths.
But even with this, there are some incredibly uplifting and therapeutic tales. One of the most amazing tales from this tragic event is how a wild elephant protected a single family from landslides.
A family is given refuge by a wild elephant amid the tragic landslip that occurred in Wayanad:
It’s a prevalent misconception that wild elephants, especially tuskers, are aggressive towards humans. Sujatha and her family, on the other hand, have a remarkable story that challenges this idea. Sujatha was saved from the terrible Tuesday night landslides that devastated Kerala’s Wayanad and left large areas of destruction in their wake by a massive tusker.
Rescue operations in Chooralmala have continued over the last four days. Over 215 individuals remain missing, and over 300 lives have been lost thus far. Sujatha, a local, is still processing what happened that night and is amazed by the divine intervention that saved her family, according to The Indian Express.
Sujatha shared her story with journalists as she was at the Meppadi Government Higher Secondary School relief camp. Says she
The water was like the sea. Trees were floating by. When I looked outside, my neighbour’s two-story house was collapsing. It fell and destroyed our house. I heard my granddaughter, Mridula, crying as I managed to get out. I grabbed hold of her little finger, pulled her out of the rubble eventually, covered her with a cloth, and began swimming through the flooding water.
Her grandson Suraj, daughter-in-law Sujitha, and son Gigeesh lived in a house nearby. Gigeesh was able to drag each one of them separately through the water. They passed a coffee plantation on their way towards the ocean, where the tusker came into sight.
A significant tragedy has just ended. Our fear is real. There’s water everywhere and no light. In some way, we arrived swimming. Mathrubhumi.com said that Sujatha begged the elephant to “please don’t do anything to us.
There were two other elephants in the neighbourhood, she mentioned. The elephant, according to Sujatha, was crying out of its eyes.
In an Asianet News video, she stated,
He stood there, motionless, until dawn, and all of us by its feet.
When Sujatha and her family were found the following morning, they were taken to a safe house and provided with food, water, and dry clothes. Sujatha and her granddaughter Mridula came at the Meppadi camp dressed like this. The rest of the family is hospitalised, according to the mathrubhumi.com source.
Despite heavy rain and difficult terrain, forty rescue teams are still searching for bodies and missing persons. State Revenue Minister K Rajan announced on Saturday the arrival of a drone-based radar from Delhi to help with corpse location. It is expected that four more Tamil Nadu dogs will join the six that are currently assisting with the search.
In any case, what are your thoughts on this tale? Please feel free to remark with your opinions.
