Just a day after the state got some respite from heavy rains, three districts in central Kerala have been issued a red warning for Tuesday. At 1 pm, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted extremely heavy rainfall for Idukki, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts. Incidentally, there was no red warning in place in Kerala till Monday night and even in the 10 am update for Tuesday from IMD.
Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram have been given orange warning with heavy to very heavy rainfall for Tuesday, which means that district officials will have to be prepared. Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur, some of the badly affected districts, will see heavy rainfall. Although Kasaragod will see heavy rainfall, it has been given a yellow warning, which means, be updated or watchful. Thiruvananthapuram will see light to moderate showers.
The IMD, however, has given a red warning with extremely heavy rainfall for two districts - Malappuram and Kozhikode - for August 14, Wednesday. Further, orange warning has also been issued for six districts for Wednesday: Idukki, Palakkad, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod (with heavy to very heavy rainfall), and Thrissur (with heavy rainfall).
Death toll stands at 88
As per the latest update from 9 am on Tuesday, the total number of rain-related deaths from August 8 to August 13 is 88. Malappuram, which saw one of the worst landslides in Kavalapparam, has the highest number of deaths at 29. Kozhikode and Wayanad, which also saw landslides and rockslides, have reported 17 and 12 deaths respectively.
A total of 1,332 relief camps are currently functioning in the state, with 257 camps in Thrissur, 196 in Wayanad and 185 in Malappuram. The number of people who have been displaced from their houses stands at 2,52,201. While 808 houses have been completely damaged, 8,459 have been partially destroyed.
Educational institutions (including professional colleges and anganwadis) in eight districts - Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Wayanad - remain closed on Tuesday due to heavy to very heavy rains.
Due to the brief respite from the rains, the rescue teams in Kavalappara (Malappuram) and Puthumala (Wayanad) were able to continue the search operations on Monday. The teams pulled out more bodies from the rubble and debris caused by the massive landslides; however, many have not been identified as the bodies had decomposed.
While 50 people are still missing in the Kavalappara landslide, eight others are missing in Wayanad.
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