‘Told mother our time seems to be up’: Wayanad landslide survivors recall night of horror

There could be more, Sudarshan feared. He and his mother, Bhavani, a cancer survivor, quickly went up to the terrace, which was covered with sheets. “My only thought at that moment was I was to save my mother. There was nowhere else to go. I couldn’t find my phone, couldn’t call anyone for help. Soon after we went up, the second landslide struck near the Chooralmala school, close to our house.”

“The river in Chooralmala flows around 400 metres behind our house. I looked around and saw the river flowing all around us. I saw several neighbouring houses getting swept away in the water,” Sudarshan remembered the scary night. “I told my mother, ‘Our time in this world seems to be up. Our house could be the next’,” he said.

Wayanad Landslides News | Follow Live Updates

Thankfully, their house survived the third strike too, even as Sudarshan saw more devastation around him. “Eleven members of a family that lived nearby are missing. The bodies of two of them have been recovered. There is no information about others,” said Sudarshan, who is now at his sister’s house in Pulpalli, 50 km north. The rescue team got him and his mother, along with a few others, to safety around 7 am.

Sudarshan was able to help a few of his neighbours as well. “When the rain subsided a bit, some of our neighbours, who saw us on top of the terrace, came out and asked me to rescue them. I got them onto our terrace using a ladder. There were around 21 people on our terrace when the rescuers came,” he said.

A damaged car and a house after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district. (AP Photo)

Sudarshan said he won’t be able to go back to his house. “That house is no longer inhabitable. More than that, we have lost several of our neighbours. I have lost my source of income, my jeep. My mother’s medicines and prescriptions are all lost. We have to start from the beginning. At least, we are lucky that we are still able to live,” he said.