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Sweeping through towns and villages, incessant torrential rains battered several parts of Kerala on Tuesday, massively uprooting trees, damaging homes and causing water saturation.
Many people narrowly escaped as huge trees were uprooted in several districts including Kollam, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Kottayam and Ernakulam which saw heavy rains since Monday night.
Power outages were reported in many parts of the state due to damage to power poles after trees fell on them.
Fallen trees due to heavy rains and strong winds damaged homes in many places and also caused traffic blockages on the busy Kollam-Shenkottai road, where vehicles were re-moved after tree stumps that fell on the road were removed.
Heavy rains have also caused water levels to rise in many rivers in central Kerala, threatening to displace people living in low-lying areas.
As the water level of the Pampa River rises, hundreds of families from a tribal settlement at Kurumbanmuzhi in Pathanamthitta district are stranded.
The level of the Meenachil River has also risen dramatically, causing concern to the people living in many areas of Kottayam district.
The port city of Kochi has seen water logging, a frequent occurrence there during heavy rains, in many places, including the KSRTC bus stand in the heart of the city, which is also the commercial hub of the state, causing problems for commuters.
Coastal areas were put on high alert following heavy waves and strong winds. Huge waves and rising sea levels have caused anxiety among the coastal residents of Nayarambalam in Ernakulam district.
Some fishermen miraculously survived in Muthalapuji in Thiruvananthapuram district after their boat capsized in the wake of bad weather.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘Red Alert’ in Idukki, Kasaragod and Kannur districts and an ‘Orange Alert’ in the remaining 11 districts on Tuesday.
As heavy rains continue to wreak havoc in many parts of Far North Kasaragod, the district administration has declared Wednesday a holiday for educational institutions, including schools, madrassas and anganwadi.
In North Kannur, 24 x 7 control rooms have been opened in Assembly Offices and Taluk Offices to provide emergency service to people.
Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam districts also opened similar control rooms and activated emergency response centers, respectively, in the wake of continued heavy rains.
Most of the provinces have been ordered to stop mining and related activities.
District administrations also urged people to avoid unnecessary travel via high-range roads due to the risk of landslides and beaching due to sea rage.
In view of the continuing torrential rains in the state, Minister of Revenue K.C. Rajan held a high-level meeting of revenue officials, including district collectors, and reviewed the situation.
In a Facebook post, the minister urged people to be very careful but said there was no need to panic.
He said the Department of Revenue and the state disaster management authority provide accurate information regarding personnel, and control rooms have already started operating in all provinces. Emergency operations centers have also been opened in all taluks.
Urging people to take every precaution, Rajan implored them to take information from reliable sources.
He also urged them to be careful about fake messages and advertising.
As heavy rains lashed the southern state on Monday, resulting in the death of a girl, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan advised people to be vigilant and avoid going near rivers, traveling to mountainous areas and trips to the beach.
A red alert indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall in excess of 20cm in a 24 hour period, while an orange alert indicates very heavy 6cm to 20cm of rain.
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