Heavy rains lash Kerala after brief respite; orange warning in 8 districts

After a brief respite, heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, lashed several parts of Kerala on Thursday (October 21).

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an Orange Alert for eight districts, indicating very heavy showers.

While the IMD has put Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur, on Orange alert, an Yellow alert, predicting isolated heavy rainfall,  has been issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kasaragod, for Thursday.

“Southwest monsoon has been active over Kerala. Rain occurred at most places in the state and at a few places in Lakshadweep,” the IMD said in a statement.

According to the IMD statement, Parambikulam in Palakkad district received 12 cm rains, while Palluruthy in Ernakulam, Enamakkal (Thrissur), and Mannarkkad (Palakkad ), received 11 cm and 9 cm rainfall respectively.

The fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea, as squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph is likely to prevail over Kerala coast on Thursday.

Also read: What Kerala is doing to avoid a repeat of ‘Great Flood of 2018’

The southern state was ravaged by heavy downpour and subsequent landslides in the south-central districts on October 15 and 16. This resulted in the loss of 42 lives, while six people were reported missing.

The Kerala government has started evacuating the people residing in the landslide-prone areas in the eastern hills for the first time, after last week’s devastating landslides in Idukki and Kottayam districts. The district administrations have also readied fishermen with boats to evacuate people from low-lying areas.

A Red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while Orange alert denotes very heavy rains from 6 cm to 20 cm of rains. A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm to 11 cm.

(With inputs from agencies)