Coimbatore: The district administration has identified 10 areas that are prone to flooding during this monsoon season.Eight of them are in Mettupalayam – Chikkatasampalayam, Odanturai, Sirumugai, Jadayampalayam, Iluppanatham, Bellapalayam, Thekkampatti and Kemmarampalayam and two at Perur – Sundakamuthur and Sundapalayam.All the 10 areas are low-vulnerable areas which, upon an unprecedented rainfall, might flood up to two feet high, said an official involved in the process of identifying them. The areas are near water bodies, including lakes.The administration has identified emergency shelters at the areas to accommodate people in case of flooding. “Apart from including local residents as the first respondents to alert officials during an emergency, inter-departmental zonal teams have been formed at these places. The teams consist of officials from local bodies, revenue department, agriculture department, police and fire department,” the official said.“There are no high-vulnerable areas in the district,” the official said, adding that the areas were identified based on data available from previous years.In view of the Somanur Bus Stand roof collapse incident, the disaster management team has directed the public works department (PWD), chief educational officers (CEO), highways department and fire department to inspect all the government buildings in the district to prevent such incidents, the official said.“Also, wind velocity and the frequency of lightning is higher than the previous years. A woman from Madukarai was recently killed by lightning. We have been creating awareness among the public about the dos and don’ts while there is lightning and are in the process of identifying the areas prone to lightning,” he told TOI.Wind velocity will continue to increase till September, but the increase in velocity will not be a continuous phenomenon, said S Panneerselvam, head of the Agro Climate Research Centre of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU). The department has predicted wind velocity to be 14 to 18 kilometre/hour. The average increase in velocity could be upto 20 to 22 kilometre/hour. The university had issued instructions to public on ways to safeguard themselves, crops and livestock, he added.

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