Seven members of a family killed in landslide in Tamil Nadu

At least seven members of a family have been killed in a landslide that hit the Tamil Nadu temple town of Tiruvannamalai on Monday, leading to a boulder falling on a residential building.

The second landslide occurred a day after the first one on Sunday at 4:30pm on the lower slopes of the famous Annamalaiyar Hill following heavy rainfall caused by Cyclone Fengal, NDTV reports.

The cyclone crossed the coast Saturday afternoon near the capital Chennai and battered the district.

Rescue operations aided by a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai were ongoing. However, heavy rain and the threat of another boulder balanced precariously further uphill were hampering rescue efforts.

The second landslide was at a spot near a local temple.

Heavy downpours have occurred in the southern state since Fengal made landfall.

That rainfall continued into Monday, two days later, with Viluppuram district in northern Tamil Nadu battling unprecedented floods. Washed out bridges and overflowing virtually blocked access to villages and residential colonies, as the flooding also damaging acres of crops and affecting rail traffic.

Over in western Tamil Nadu, parts of the Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts also saw record floods. Uthangarai in Krishnagiri saw 50 cm of rainfall in 24 hours as of 8:30am, while Villupuram received 42 cm, Harur in Dharmapuri 33 cm, and Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai 16 cm.

Videos have emerged online of vehicles, including large buses at the bus station in Uthangiri where it has rained for 14 hours straight, being dragged off the road by floodwaters.

The extremely heavy rainfall in parts of Tamil Nadu was caused by the remnants of the cyclone, which is now positioned as a strong low-pressure area over the northern part of the state, a Weather Department official told news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, a part of the airport in Chennai was flooded and hundreds of passengers were impacted due to multiple flight cancellations over the weekend. Operations were suspended till 4am on Sunday.

Fengal skirted the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this week, killing at least 12 people, including six children.