It felled houses, all kinds of crops and kerb trees ; but to be fair with rain, it also brought down the killing heat.
The summer rain that entered the district as a mild-mannered drizzle on Wednesday turned aggressive on Thursday, whacking the district for hours together.
The administration is yet to do the maths of destruction by adding up loss of crops and houses. A total of 27 houses, 13 in Kochi, 12 in Kunnathunadu and two in Paravur were damaged while over 100 houses were flooded in parts of the city.
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The district administration has opened control rooms at all taluk offices and the District headquarters for coordinating the relief and rehabilitation work.
By Thursday morning, floods knocked on the doors of houses and buildings in low-lying areas of the city. Traffic along the major city roads, including the Thammanam-Pullepady road, KSRTC bus stand premises, Kadavanthra and some areas of MG Road were affected.
Officials in the district administration said the city received a rainfall of about 115 millimetres till 8. 30 a.m. on Thursday.
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Around 50 families from Elamkulam have been rehabilitated to a relief camp opened at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kanayannur Taluk.
The gusty winds that gave company to rain plucked out plantain, vegetables, rubber trees, arecanut and coconut palms, and snapped cables in Piravom, Muvattupuzha and Perumbavoor.
And the residents near Muttom had a didn’t-we-say moment when the unprecedented rainfall caused water logging in Chavarpadam, location of metro yard in Muttom near Aluva. It led to soil slippage at the public graveyard in Aluva, turning the bodies in their graves and forcing them to the surface.
Rain also stopped Kochi Metro Rail project in the reach extending from Palarivattom to Ernakulam South for a couple of hours.
Flight operations at the Cochin International Airport remained largely unaffected with only one flight, a Spice Jet operating between Mumbai and Kochi, being diverted to Bangalore due to poor visibility.
Weather Advisory A weather advisory issued by the India Meteorological Department on Thursday warned heavy rainfall (exceeding 7cm) to very heavy rainfall (exceeding 13cm) to occur at isolated places in Kerala till morning of May 10. According to the agency, a low-pressure area lies over East Arabian Sea off North Kerala coast and is likely to become more marked and move northeast wards.
Fishermen are advised not to venture into sea along and off Kerala coast and Lakshadweep area during this period.