Cuddalore receives 266mm rainfall in two days Even as the death toll in rain-related incidents in the district, which bore the brunt of nature’s fury following a depression over the Bay of Bengal on Monday, rose to 27, receding floodwater offers survivors the hope of speedy rehabilitation. With the floodwaters subsiding, the district administration has stepped up relief work and rescued over 29,000 people who were the worst affected by the deluge and sheltered them in 28 relief centres. Cuddalore district received 266 mm of rainfall on November 8 and 9, leading to large-scale flooding. Already, the district has received 500 mm of rainfall, against the usual 697 mm received during the northeast monsoon. About 25,000 people in rural areas and 4,000 in urban areas have been accommodated in relief centres, said Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in a statement after a high-level review meeting in Chennai. “In addition, community kitchens have been opened at 26 centres to supply food and drinking water to the affected,” said senior IAS officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi, who is coordinating relief work in Cuddalore. About 2,000 electric poles were uprooted, snapping power to most of the villages during the deep depression that hit life in this costal district. On Wednesday, power supply was restored in 430 out of the 683 panchayats, where the power lines snapped. Over 2,000 workers from Tangedco have been roped in from various districts. Transformers have been repaired to restore seven of the drinking water schemes. Flood damage After a preliminary assessment of flood damage, officials said paddy crops in around 20,164 hectares were submerged and 4,804 huts damaged across the district. The tail-end Cauvery delta regions of Chidambaram and Kattumannarkovil were the worst affected where crops on 11,880 hectares were submerged, officials said. Relief At the Collectorate, Minister for Commercial Taxes M.C. Sampath handed over relief amount of Rs.4 lakh each announced by Chief Minister to the next of kin of 27 persons who died in rain-related incidents. Community kitchens have been opened at 26 centres to supply food and drinking water to the affected people - Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Senior IAS officer