Monsoon showers soaked large parts of the State on Thursday as the rain belt moved across Kerala northwards into Karnataka. Heavy rain damaged houses and flooded low-lying areas in several districts while high waves pounded the coastal areas, forcing the evacuation of families.
As many as 107 houses were damaged and two destroyed in the rain since the onset of the monsoon on Wednesday. The district administration in Alappuzha opened 18 relief camps to accommodate the families displaced by coastal erosion and flooding. While 683 families were relocated to seven relief camps in Ambalappuzha taluk, 1,469 families were put up in 11 camps at Cherthala. One camp was opened in Thiruvananthapuram also.
The monsoon remained active over Kerala on Thursday, with the southern and central parts receiving more rain. Vaikom in Kottayam district and Enamackel in Thrissur recorded the highest rainfall of 12 cm each, followed by Piravom with 11 cm and Nilambur and Kakkanad 10 cm each.
A weather report issued by the India Meteorology Department (IMD) said the southwest monsoon had advanced into some parts of central Arabian sea, remaining parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, most parts of coastal Karnataka, some parts of south interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh and some parts of central Bay of Bengal. The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two locations in Kerala till the morning of June 10 and heavy rainfall on the subsequent day. Squally weather with wind speed reaching 45-55 kmph and gusting to 60 kmph was likely along and off the Kerala coast during the next 48 hours.
High waves in the range of 3 to 3.4 m have been forecast along the entire Kerala coast till June 11.
The State-level disaster management control room here has highlighted the possibility of landslips due to heavy rainfall in the hilly areas over the last 48 hours. It warned that the intense cloud cover could lead to more rain, saturating the slopes.
The season’s rainfall for Kerala from June 1 till Wednesday was normal, with the State receiving 166 mm against a normal of 152.8 mm. Kozhikode registered large excess rainfall of 96 per cent while Wayanad was left with a large deficit of 77 per cent. Thrissur and Kollam districts recorded excess rainfall of 21 per cent and 31 per cent respectively while Kasaragod recorded a deficit of 26 per cent. Rainfall over the period was normal in all the other districts.
Minister’s directive
Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan has ordered all district collectors to be prepared for relief operations in view of the strengthening monsoon.
He also ordered that maximum steps should be taken to prevent accidents.
