Nedumkandam: “I swam up to the door, and when I finally managed to open it slightly, I saw a child clinging to a ceiling fan while the parents stood on a bench. The entire house would have gone under if the water had risen even a foot more,” recalls Jiji of Mulassery Veetil, who led the rescue of Pattathil Bibi and her family trapped by flash floods inside their home at Mundiyeruma on Friday night.

In Mundiyeruma town, the ground floors of nearly all buildings were completely submerged. “While I was helping move stock from shops, we heard about a family stranded in their house. The entire home, except for the upper portion, was underwater, and we could hear their cries for help,” Jiji said. “My son Jins swam there first, but it was clear that we couldn’t reach them through the door. The parents were standing on a bench, and the child was clinging to the fan.”

Jiji and other locals then swam to the house and entered by breaking open an air vent. They tied the family members to a rope and carefully pulled them out to the terrace, where the water was still rising. Using an asbestos sheet, they created a makeshift bridge from the terrace to the road. The family crossed it and were finally brought to safety.

It was the local residents who carried out all the rescue efforts in Mundiyeruma, saving those trapped in their flooded homes before official help could arrive.