At least four people have died and many are feared trapped as relentless rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods in parts of Kerala.
Several districts in Kerala received received extreme rainfall on Friday night which set off flashflood, landslide and devastation in Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam.
As the condition deteriorated, India Meteorological Department has declared red alert in the districts of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad Kannur and Kasaragod.
Tragic Deaths Amidst Rainfall
Two persons were killed in landslides in Idukki district. The administrative officials said that one of the deceased has been identified as Sumathi (69), a resident of Adurmala area. She was trapped under debris after one portion of hill fall into her house. The neighbours were able to rescue, her husband and son. They are identified as, Ravi Narayanan (72) and Ratheesh (38), respectively.
In Kottayam district, heavy rainfall throughout the night triggered widespread devastation, leaving one person dead and two people missing in Poonjar. The deceased has been identified as Josephine Johny -28, belonging to Manapad House at Payyanithottam in Poonjar. Josephine succumbed to her injuries after the debris fell onto the house during the early hours of Saturday. Josephine’s mother, Rejina Johny, remains missing, and search operations are underway. The incident occurred around 4.30 am. Authorities are also searching for another missing person from the area.
In Vagamon, Prabhakaran Nair, 72 who was residing at one of his relative’s house, Leelamani of Kolahalamedu died after a landslide destroyed a portion of the house. The body was retrieved after demolishing a portion of the building.
The deluge was so intense that certain areas received more than 30 cm rainfall within a span of eight hours. Vagamon in Idukki district recorded 31.4 cm rainfall while Vadasserikkara and in Pathanamthitta recorded 33 cm and Laha in the same district got 25 cm rainfall. There was a sudden surge in the water level in Pampa river that inundated houses on either banks.
Ranni town was submerged and several vehicles were caught in the flood waters. NDRF, Fire and Rescue Force, Police and the public launched rescue operations shifting people caught in houses using dingy boats and distributing food and water to the people shifted to relief camps. A state of emergency prevails in the three districts.
Why Did Authorities Say?
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) Member Secretary, Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose says, “Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, and Idukki experienced extremely heavy rainfall measuring up to 361 mm at places in the last maybe 24 hours… It has caused a number of landslips in slope cuts where there are roads and houses. We have also seen some debris flows happening.
However, people were aware… There were alerts running for the last many days, and what we have seen is that fatality numbers are very low. Two deaths are reported from Idukki and two from Kottayam. The rain spell for the south is almost over. Now it’s moving towards the north… We have nine pre-positioned teams in Kerala.”