Twenty-two persons lost their lives at different places in the district since Wednesday as rain wreaked its worst havoc ever, devastating towns and villages.
Hundreds of houses along the banks of rivers, including Kadalundipuzha, Chaliyar, Bharatapuzha and Thoothapuzha, were submerged. Thousands of people were evacuated to safer places.
All towns in the district were marooned with most roads having submerged in incessant rain and floods. It was like a hartal day in most towns as people could not reach shops and offices. Flooded roads and highways looked like waterways with people using dinghies and makeshift rafts to play around and to shift patients as well.
Schools and colleges did not function since Monday. They have been given a holiday on Friday as well.
Buried alive
When 14 people were killed on Wednesday, eight lost their lives on Thursday. Seven residents of Nelliyaya tribal colony at Odakkayam near Vettilappara in Oorngattiri panchayat were buried alive in a massive landslide on Thursday morning.
A rescue team led by the Army retrieved the bodies of Sundaran, 45; Sarojini, 45; Unnikrishnan, 28; Chinchu alias Ambili, 20; Chirutha, 70; Shibila, 6; and Matha, braving continuous rains and impending threat of further landslips. P.K. Basheer, MLA of Eranad, led the relief operations and shifted the remaining Adivasis to safer camps. There were about 400 Adivasis in the colony. Nisha, 30, wife of Rajesh Pattiriveettil at Kulappad in Edavanna village, was buried alive when their house caved in after a landslide on Thursday morning.
The body of Abdul Hakeem, who had gone missing in a swollen canal at Kizhisseri on Wednesday, could not be recovered in spite of a day-long search by the fire and rescue personnel on Thursday. The search willcontinue on Friday. As many as 79 relief camps were opened across the district to cater to the people displaced in the floods.
Official figures showed that 4,495 people were evacuated to the camps
Road traffic along the Nadugani ghat road was restricted. Trucks and other heavy vehicles were banned in the route. However, small vehicles were permitted.
