At least two persons were killed, crops worth crores of rupees were lost, landslides were reported from many places and hundreds of houses were destroyed in the heavy summer rains and strong winds pounding entire Kerala since Wednesday.
Thiruvananthapuram, the State capital where rains, accompanied by strong winds and lightning had started on Tuesday, was perhaps the worst-hit. In Kochi, many train services had to be cancelled while several others were rescheduled and almost all roads remained waterlogged throughout Thursday causing long traffic jams.
Weathermen at the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Indian Meteorological Department said rains and strong winds could continue till Friday evening forcing the State authorities to advise people living in the mountainous areas to remain alert about the possibility of landslides. Fishermen were asked not to venture out into the sea as winds of speeds up to 60 kmph were expected.
Two rain-related deaths were reported on Thursday alone. landslide killed Omana (55) at Kanjiramkulam in Thiruvananthapuram district while her husband Babu was admitted to the hospital with injuries. In Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, 43-year-old Yaqoob died when a tree branch fell on him.
As many as 282 houses were destroyed and another 3,000 suffered partial damages in the rains and winds in the State in the past two days. In Thiruvananthapuram district alone, 26 houses were destroyed and 522 were damaged partially. The State Government has requested the Centre for a Rs 94-crore assistance to face the rain-related emergency.
According to Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, the rains had destroyed 551 km of roads in the State. He said the heavy downpour had destroyed crops worth Rs 20 crore in the mountainous Idukki district alone. The Government had two days ago advised tourists to avoid destinations in the district due to possibility of landslides.
Heavy showers had started to lash the State on Tuesday following the formation of a low-pressure trough between Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari. Central and northern Kerala received heavy rains on Wednesday and Thursday after the low-pressure system started moving in a north-westerly direction.
landslide was reported on the Kollam-Theni highway and authorities said that it would take at least a week to restore vehicular traffic along the road. The State Government asked the people living in the mountainous areas of Kozhikode, Kannur and Wayanad districts to remain alert and advised those living in vulnerable areas to shift to safer places.
Normal life went out of gear in Kochi in the heavy rains lashing the city since Wednesday as the people were stranded in their houses because of water-logging of the roads. The Railways cancelled six train services while rescheduling about a dozen others. Western Kochi received the highest rainfall of 19 cm in the State in this spell of the summer showers.
In central Kerala, the “sample” fireworks display of the Thrissur Pooram, the most famous annual temple festival of the State, had to be cancelled on Wednesday due to the rains. The festival committees were on Thursday apprehensive that the Pooram on Friday might become a damp affair if the rains continued as the weathermen had predicted.
North Kerala districts Kannur and Kozhikode were also receiving heavy rains since Wednesday evening. Six shutters of the Pazhassi dam in Kannur district had to be lifted due to rapid rising of the water level in the reservoir.
A Saudi Airlines flight from Jeddah had to be diverted to Colombo on Thursday morning as it could not land at Kozhikode airport due to heavy rain.