Unprecedented rainfall, the heaviest in 50 years, has ravaged Telangana’s Kamareddy, Medak, and Rajanna Sircilla districts, submerging towns, destroying crops, and claiming lives. Amid the chaos, tales of courage and resilience emerged as NDRF, SDRF, police, and Indian Army teams risked their lives to rescue hundreds, including a dramatic airlift of Jangam Swamy, stranded for 30 hours, and a pregnant woman rushed to safety in Medak. Yet, the floods have left scars, with two men, Bestha Sathyam and Yada Goud, still missing after being swept away.

In Rajanna Sircilla, Lakshmi’s anguished wait for her son, Jangam Swamy, gripped the region. Trapped with four others on an island near the Upper Manair dam, Swamy endured swirling floodwaters for 30 hours. “Please save my son. It’s been 30 hours,” Lakshmi pleaded, her despair turning to fury at delayed rescues. Adverse weather thwarted initial helicopter attempts, but an Indian Air Force chopper finally airlifted Swamy to safety on August 28. “They gave me a second life,” Swamy said, tearfully reuniting with his family.

In Medak, NDRF teams, dubbed “Knights in Fluorescent Orange” on social media, navigated treacherous waters to rescue a pregnant woman in labor from Wadi village, ensuring her safe delivery at a hospital. In Kamareddy, police braved chest-deep waters with a single rope, rescuing 10 people, including children carried on their shoulders, earning widespread praise as #RealHeroes. In Nirmal, NDRF teams used specialized boats to save Shankar Naik from rising waters, though 250 families remain displaced, and the Nirmal-Maharashtra route is closed.

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The floods, triggered by 44 cm of rain in Kamareddy’s Rajampet and 31.6 cm in Medak’s Havelighanpur, have inundated colonies like Housing Board and Goske Rajaiah in Kamareddy, submerging homes and farmland. Over 1,071 people have been evacuated across Kamareddy, Medak, and Nirmal, with 350 students from Ramayampet’s SC Women’s Degree College and 80 from a girls’ hostel relocated. The Manjira and Manair rivers, swollen by inflows, have breached 16 tanks and damaged 47 roads and 15 bridges, halting National Highway 44 and train services at Rameshwarpally.

Tragically, Bestha Sathyam and Yada Goud remain missing after their auto-rickshaw was swept away at Rajpet bridge in Kamareddy while heading to a flooded Gurukul school to pick up their children. Former minister Harish Rao alleged they clung to an electric pole for four hours, pleading for a helicopter rescue that never came. “Ministers use choppers for rallies, but not for emergencies,” Rao criticized, demanding Rs 25 lakh compensation for victims’ families. Search efforts continue, with no trace of the men as of August 28.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, conducting an aerial survey on August 28, ordered intensified relief efforts, with 15 SDRF and five NDRF teams deployed. Drones delivered food to 1,000 stranded residents, and 100 Army personnel assisted in Medak. Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar secured IAF helicopters for rescues. Despite receding inflows at Pocharam reservoir, the IMD’s red alert for Kamareddy and Medak signals more rain, keeping authorities on edge.

Also Read: Torrential Rains Flood Kamareddy, Devastate Crops