Ramanathapuram Fire and Emergency Safety Guide

The district plan lists the cyclone of 23 December 1964, which hit Rameswaram with a storm surge, and later cyclones Gaja in 2018, Burevi in 2020 and Yass in 2021 as major disasters here. The district has about 237 km of coastline, nearly a quarter of the state total.

The plan records the 26 December 2004 tsunami at Thondi, where two people died. The coast is covered by the national tsunami warning system, which sends alerts to coastal states after a large undersea earthquake.

The district plan lists the Erwadi fire of August 2001, in which 28 people died. Erwadi is also the site of the Santhanakoodu festival, when people from across the state throng the dargah and the government runs thousands of special buses.

The plan notes that villages near the Vaigai river bed need safe shelter in case of flooding, and names Muthalur, Sevur, Nagachi, Mookkaiyur and Mariyur among villages likely to flood in rain. Very heavy northeast monsoon rain in December has damaged huts, farms and livestock in the district in several recent years.

The plan calls Ramanathapuram a highly drought prone district in the rain shadow, with droughts recorded in 1987, 1988, 1995 and 2016. Heat waves, lightning and thunderstorms are also listed among the hazards.