T20 woman cricketer rescued as floods spell trouble in Gujarat

VADODRA: India cricketer Radha Yadav faced a terrifying 48 hours as she found herself stranded in her home, surrounded by floodwaters in Vadodara. With dwindling supplies of food and drinking water, Yadav, a member of T20 World Cup squad, was eventually rescued by Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the fire brigade from her residence at Aranya Apartments Wednesday evening. "It was a scary experience. This is the first time I've seen such a situation around my home. Thankfully VMC and fire brigade team came to our rescue," she told TOI.The 24-year-old all-rounder recounted that she had arrived in the city from Mumbai on Aug 25. "The next day it started pouring heavily. Initially, I thought it was just temporary water-logging and expected things to normalise in a few hours. But the water kept rising around our apartment. The power went out, and we didn't have enough food stored," she recalled. "VMC and fire brigade team brought boats and food supplies," Yadav added. Meanwhile, monsoon fury ravaged Gujarat's Kutch district Thursday with beach town Mandvi pounded by 315mm of rainfall even as Saurashtra got some respite from four days of rain onslaught. While rain took a break in Jamnagar and Rajkot, temple town Dwarka continued to remain waterlogged after receiving 144 mm of rainfall. Govt figures stated that 32 people died in the state from Aug 25 to Aug 29, but sources said the toll climbed to 39 with seven bodies surfacing in different parts of Vadodara since Wednesday, after water began receding. These include two bodies recovered on Wednesday and five recovered on Thursday.As many as 32,933 people have been shifted to safer places. Rajkot International Airport, operating from a temporary terminal at Hirasar even a year after its inauguration, experienced structural issues Tuesday when a wall bordering its runway collapsed due to heavy rain. Ahmedabad, too, is limping back to normalcy with corporate offices starting to function on Thursday.