“It is only May. We don’t know what to do for the rest of the monsoon season,” said Bharathi, a middle-aged woman in Maveli Nagar as she cleaned her house that was flooded after heavy rains pounded Kochi in Ernakulam district of Kerala on Tuesday, May 28. While rains have caused waterlogging in the area, it was for the first time that rainwater entered the homes in the residential area.
Kalamassery, a municipality in the suburbs of Kochi and Thrikkakara in Kakkanad, the city's IT hub were the most affected by the heavy rains influenced by Cyclone Remal. Kalamassery municipality alone received a rainfall of 150mm, which led to inundation of several low-lying areas. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) defines 100mm of rain in one hour as cloud burst.
The waterlogging on the roads lead to hours of traffic disrupted in major locations of the city. On Tuesday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had scaled up the warning for Ernakulam district from yellow to red only after the region witnessed extreme rainfall in the morning which subsided around noon.
In Maveli Nagar, around 20 houses were affected by flooding. “We have been settled here for the last 30 years. This is the first time we are facing such an inundation. In the last two years, when it rained the water would rise slightly, however not in this way,” said Bharathy.
Venugopal, another resident in Maveli Nagar, also said this was the first time the area experienced flooding. Venugopal is currently living in a new house a little higher up next door to his old house, which was flooded. “Two days ago we moved all the items to the terrace, so hopefully the items are not damaged. But I’ll need one week to completely clean the house,” he said.
The rain started around 8.30 in the morning. First the roads were flooded and then water started entering the houses. There is a small canal that runs behind these houses, however, the residents say the authorities used to clean it properly. Hence they have no idea from where this water suddenly came. “People were not able to take any precautions because all of a sudden the water entered into the houses. The dirty water carries various disease risks. I hope the authorities find out the reasons and can do something for the future,” said Dhanalakshami, another resident.
The waterlogging threw the traffic in Kochi city into haywire for a few hours. Waterlogging affected several areas like Infopark in Kakkanad, Edappally, Infopark, Ernakulam South railway station, KSRTC bus stand, Palarivattom and Kaloor apart from Thrikkakara and Kalamassery. In Thoppumpady an uprooted tree fell on a KSRTC bus, luckily, passengers escaped narrowly.
On Tuesday night the rains subsided in Ernakulam district. It currently has only two relief camps with 62 persons from 21 families.
People from districts like Kottayam, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram also experienced waterlogging and flooding due to intense rains. Mudslides triggered by heavy rains disrupted traffic on Erattupetta and Vagamon roads in Kottayam. In Thiruvananthapuram, the city as well as the rural areas witnessed heavy rain since Monday night. As per reports, Nedumangad, Neyyattinkara, Kattakkada, and Amboori areas, located in the high ranges of the district, also received widespread rainfall on Tuesday.