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The severest flood warnings were withdrawn from districts across the state on Sunday.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.
No comments:
Post a Comment