Heavy downpour pounded Kerala for the third consecutive day on Friday causing landslides, inundation of low-lying areas, damage to several houses and extensive crop losses even as weathermen said intense rains would continue for at least two more days due to the presence of a low-pressure system off the Odisha coast and a monsoon trough on the western coast.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in the State, especially in northern Kerala where the rains were more furious than in the south. Road and rail traffic was hit following landslides and water-logging of roads and railway tracks. Several towns and villages in northern Malabar remained without electricity since Thursday night as power lines snapped under fallen trees.
Scientists at the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Indian Meteorological Department said heavy rains would continue in Kerala till Monday and asked fishermen to remain cautious as there was possibility of winds with speeds varying between 35 kmph and 55 kmph. They also said that the monsoon would remain active at least till the middle of the month.
Irikkur in Kannur received 21 cm of rainfall in the 24 hours till Friday morning while Talipparamba and Mattannur recorded 17 cm rainfall. Kerala has received a total of 1106 mm of rainfall since the start of the south-western monsoon on June 6 but this showed a deficit of 19 per cent compared to the normal expected rainfall.
landslides were reported from Ambayathode and Kuttyattoor in Kannur district. Traffic along the Kottiyur-Mananthavady road came to a standstill due to mudslide at Palchuram. The Disaster management Authority asked the people living in mountainous areas to be on alert because of the possibility of landslides as the rains were continuing without break in most areas.
The lokmanya Tilak Terminal-Thiruvananthapuram Netravati Express train was stranded at Kasaragod for several hours after the railway tracks were water-logged at Kanhangad railway station. Damage to houses was reported extensively from Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.
Worst hit in the State in the current phase of the monsoon were Kasaragod, Kannur and Wayanad districts. Educational institutions in Kasaragod and Wayanad districts and Iritti, Talipparamba North and South Payyannur educational sub-districts in Kannur remained closed on Friday as the district authorities declared a holiday.
The spillway shutters of the Kakkayam dam in Kozhikode and Malankara dam in Pathanamthitta had to be lifted as rains pounded their catchment areas for the past three days.
One person went missing after being trapped in gushing waters in Kasaragod district. Revenue authorities opened relief camps in Kozhikode and Kasaragod districts.