Wayanad: Jayan, a resident of the landslide-hit Chooralmala in Kerala, was fast asleep in his home on the night of July 29. The serene and peaceful residential area of Wayanad was shaken by the relentless thumping of torrential rain outside. At around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jayan was jolted awake by a loud noise. Rushing outside, he was met with a horrifying scene: floodwaters surged past his house, and desperate neighbours were scrambling to their rooftops, screaming for help.

"There was no power or light," Jayan recalled, his voice tinged with distress. "We saw people on the other side of the floodwaters, crying out for help, but the slush and rapid current made it impossible for anyone to reach them." A middle-aged man with a stress-marked face, Jayan's expression reflected the trauma of the night’s events as he spoke to PTI.

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Typically, Jayan and his family, who are casual labourers, retire for the night around 9:30 p.m. After dinner, they settle down, unaware of the impending disaster. On that fateful night, as on many others, they went to bed, believing the earlier landslide at 1:30 p.m. would be the worst of it. Many in the community had returned to sleep, hoping for the safety of their loved ones who were still crying for help.

However, at around 3:30 a.m., a more violent noise shattered the night. "Everything happened in an instant," Jayan recounted. "Massive boulders and mud rushed down with extreme force, obliterating the homes of those who had earlier cried for help. We were paralyzed with fear, witnessing nothing but mud, water, and debris surging past us." In mere moments, the vibrant community was transformed into a desolate wasteland, where houses that once stood proudly were swallowed by the relentless torrent.

As the floodwaters crashed through, the cries of those who managed to survive echoed in the dark, desperately calling out for their loved ones. Jayan's heart sank as he thought of his wife's relatives who lived in the most severely affected areas. "Eleven members of my wife's family are missing," he said, his eyes glistening with tears. "We identified the body of a child recovered from the Chaliyar River in Nilambur, Malappuram district, as one of my relatives. So far, we have only found three bodies; the rest remain unaccounted for."

Clutching a blue plastic rain cover tightly to his chest, Jayan stood by, scanning every person pulled from the wreckage, anxiously hoping none belonged to his wife’s family. "I am waiting here, hoping to get some news about our missing family members," he said, his face weary from both physical exhaustion and emotional turmoil. His wait could stretch on for days as rescue teams tirelessly dig through the mud and debris, searching for survivors and the deceased alike.

Around him, many others mirrored Jayan's anguish, rushing to the rescuers as they uncovered bodies, desperately wanting to catch a final glimpse of their loved ones swept away by the flood. The atmosphere was charged with grief and despair, yet also marked by a sense of community, as those who remained began to support one another in the face of unimaginable loss.

As the days progressed, the search for the missing continued, but so did the hope that some might still be found alive. In this tragedy, the resilience of the human spirit shone through, as neighbours banded together in their darkest hour, holding on to hope amid the overwhelming sorrow. Jayan’s story, like many others, encapsulated the heartbreak and uncertainty that followed the catastrophic landslides, illustrating the profound impact of nature's fury on the lives of those in Chooralmala. PTI