Nearly 50 killed in Kerala floods, 1.47 lakh moved to relief camps

The south west monsoon has wreaked havoc in most parts central and south Kerala, including Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta

Ernakulam: Last Wednesday, Lizy Thomas had barely woken up when the floodwaters swept through the backdoor, ripping apart the walls, as the roof collapsed. Lizy, who lived on the banks of Meenachil river in Alappuzha district, is one among the 1.47 lakh people in Kerala who were moved to relief camps following the week-long heavy monsoon showers.

Nearly 50 people have been killed so far in the floods, show official estimates. The latest casualty was a reporter with a local television channel, who was chasing stories highlighting the plight of the flood-affected, but died when his boat capsized on Monday.

The south west monsoon has wreaked havoc in most parts central and south Kerala, including Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta. Despite a show of defiance by the residents, who travelled on boats along flooded roads and held parties in chest-deep water, they are barely making ends meet with limited stock of food and potent water at the relief camps, which have been housed in schools and places of worship.

In Alappuzha’s Kuttanad region alone, paddy worth crores was destroyed. “Almost all farmers have suffered crop damage one way or the other,” said Sebastian from Muttar in Kuttanad.

The damage to crops and human lives, however, raises a question. Kerala with 44 rivers had witnessed the worst floods in 1924 following very heavy downpours. But despite far less rainfall this time, it was enough to cause massive floods and landslides, sweeping away roads, estates, houses, and even a portion of a local church carved out of a hill. But why so?

“In 1924 rains, 80% Kerala’s mid and low land was under water. In much lesser rains this year, 950 villages, almost 90% are affected with some damage, not just flooding. Our net hazards may have stayed lower than 1924, but our risk factor, the vulnerability, has increased significantly,” said a scientist and a key official, who is part of Kerala’s disaster management team, requesting anonymity.

The problem this time, he said, was not gushing flood waters wreaking havoc, but the water stagnating for longer periods of time and showing no signs of receding. “Water should have flown out easily, but is getting stagnated. It implies that the devastation is a direct consequence of the infrastructure boom Kerala has seen over the years.”

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what caused the floods in southern India, when did they start and how many people have been evacuated?

Monsoon rains kill hundreds of Indians each year - and Kerala is usually among the worst-hit areas

THE floods in Southern India have laid waste to Kerala and left hundreds of thousands of people without homes.

But what caused them, when did they start, and how many people have been evacuated? Find out here...

The floods in Southern India came at the height of monsoon season.

Monsoon rains kill hundreds of Indians each year - and Kerala is usually among the worst-hit areas.

Deforestation and clogged rivers are thought to have contributed to the unusually severe flooding this year.

It is the region's worst flood since 1924.

The floods started in mid-June, when Monsoon season officially began.

The monsoon flooding has severely hit 12 of Kerala's 14 districts, with thousands of homes damaged since June.

Crops on 32,500 hectares (80,300 acres) of land have also been damaged, the Home Ministry said.

A total of 407 people have died in Kerala, 190 in Uttar Pradesh, 183 people in West Bengal, 139 in Maharashtra, 52 in Gujarat, 45 in Assam and 11 in Nagaland state, officials and the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

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 Aerial view shows scale of monsoon flooding in Kerala, India – video

“What prevails in Kerala is not a situation that is going out of control,” the state’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said. “Things have improved a lot.”

Kerala frequently floods during the monsoon season, but 250% more rain fell than usual in the week to 15 August, forcing authorities to open the floodgates of dangerously full dams.

The extent of the damage will remain unclear until the floodwaters subside, but Vijayan said at least 83,000km (51,570 miles) of roads would need to be repaired. About 20,000 homes and 40,000 hectares (98,800 acres) of crops are also said to have been destroyed.

More than 4,000 relief camps have been established across Kerala and disaster management officials said they were now focused on preventing the outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Some residents in less affected cities such as Kochi have begun returning to their homes to assess the damage. “The entire house is covered with mud,” TP Johnny, a resident of the city, told Reuters. “All our household articles, including the TV and fridge, have been destroyed.”

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Kerala gets highest August rains in 87 yrs . In Just 20 Days

Water levels have started to fall in the southern Indian state of Kerala and rain is predicted to ease in the coming days as rescue operations continue to free thousands of people still marooned by the worst flooding in a century.

With the lull in heavy rain on Sunday, focus began to shift to providing for the more than 600,000 people sheltering in relief camps, with shortages of medicine, fuel and fresh water reported.

About 13 deaths were recorded on Sunday, a sharp fall from 33 on Saturday and more than 100 in the preceding days when water levels rose rapidly. More than 370 people have died since the monsoon season began in May, the majority in the past 11 days.

An official from the India Meteorological Department told the Asian News Agency that rain was likely to ease over the next four to five days, giving a window for the military-led effort to rescue those still trapped or to air-drop food and water to stranded towns.

The severest flood warnings were withdrawn from districts across the state on Sunday. “There is no red or amber colour code warning for any district today,” the department’s director, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, said. “For tomorrow, the colour warning is green.”

The armed forces reported that 23,213 people had been rescued in recent days and 2,000 had been provided with medical aid.

14 Aug 2018 Tragedy of Kerala floods unfolds- Bodies found floating, roads cut off, food and medicines scarce .

More funds poured in for Kerala, which is battling the worst floods crisis its had in a century, as the Prime Minister conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas and announced a Rs 500 crore aid from the Center.

At least 23 more deaths were reported across rain-devastated Kerala on Saturday with 15 bodies of the victims seen floating on flood waters even as rescue and relief operations continued across the state on a war-footing.

But with power supply and communication links snapped, shortage of food, potable water and medicines and scores of people awaiting evacuation from affected areas, the government has an uphill task ahead.

Prime minister Narendra Modi, who had reached the state on Friday night, announced an interim relief of Rs 500 crore for Kerala after holding a high-level meeting with state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other officials on Saturday. He also announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh per person to the next kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000.

The state government however sought emergency relief of Rs 2,500 crore from the Centre, saying Kerala has suffered losses of Rs 25,000 crores.

After the meeting, the prime minister conducted an aerial survey of the flooded area, primarily covering Kochi and Idukki. Earlier he had to call off the survey as his chopper was called back minutes after it took off amid heavy rains in Kochi .

Torrential rains have battered God’s own country since August 8, leaving over 200 people dead in the last 10 days in landslides and floods in what is the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century. Out of the total casualties, 150 are said to have lost their lives in the last two days.

The weather department on Saturday held out hopes of respite, holding the intensity of rains has decreased and the situation will improve from Tuesday.

meWith roads cut off and public transport virtually non-existent, there are now fears of starvation. “If help won’t reach people will die of starvation,” said Chenganur MLA Saji Cherian.

An estimated four lakh people are now in relief camps, official said.

A massive relief and rescue operation involving the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NDRF and volunteers continues to be underway. IAF rescue teams are also providing relief materials to stranded people.

However, despite their best efforts, marooned people complained that they had to survive without food or potable water for many days. “The magnitude of the disaster is really great. We are finding it difficult to manage such a volume of affected people,” a relief official said in Kochi on Friday.

More aid poured in from around India, with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announcing all MLAs and MPs of his Aam Aadmi Party would donate a month’s salary, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik announcing Rs 5 crore, and his Bihar and Haryana counterparts Nitish Kumar and Manohar Lal Khattar, Rs 10 crores each. Medicines worth Rs 1 crore were sent from Tamil Nadu.