Wayanad: Elephants Rescue Family during Kerala’s Worst Flooding Incident

During a catastrophic landslide and flooding incident in Kerala, a woman and her family were remarkably rescued by a group of elephants. This tragic event, one of the worst in the state’s history, left hundreds dead and many missing, but Sujatha Aninachira and her family were among the fortunate survivors.

As the floodwaters surged like an ocean and chaos enveloped their surroundings, Sujatha and her family managed to escape the devastation by climbing a nearby hillock. It was here that they encountered a wild tusker and two female elephants, standing mere inches away from them. The sequence of events that followed was nothing short of extraordinary.

Sujatha recounted the harrowing experience, describing how their neighbor’s two-story house collapsed, demolishing her own home in the process. Trapped under the rubble were Sujatha, her son Girish, daughter-in-law Sujitha, and granddaughter Mridula. Amid the chaos, Sujatha heard her granddaughter’s cries.

“I heard my granddaughter, Mridula, crying as I managed to get out. I grabbed hold of her little finger, pulled her out of the rubble eventually, covered her with a cloth, and began swimming through the flooding water,” Sujatha recalled.

Miraculously, the other family members also freed themselves and reached the shore near the hilltop. There, they came face to face with a tusker and two female elephants. As the animals inched closer, Sujatha, overwhelmed with emotion, pleaded with them to spare their lives.

“It was pitch dark, and just half a meter away from us stood a wild tusker. It, too, seemed terrified. I mumbled a plea to the elephant, saying we had just survived a disaster, and asked it to lie down for the night and let someone rescue us,” as Sujatha told.

To her amazement, the elephants approached and stood silently. Sujatha noticed tears rolling down the tusker’s eyes as it remained with them throughout the night, standing guard until rescue arrived in the morning.

“We were very close to the tusker’s legs, but it seemed to understand our predicament. We stayed there until 6 a.m., and the elephants also stood there until we were rescued by some people in the morning. I could see its eyes welling up as the dawn broke,” Sujatha added.

This extraordinary encounter highlights the deep connection and empathy that can exist between humans and animals, even in the face of nature’s fury.