Heavy rain, accompanied by gale and thunderstorm, pounded several parts of southern and central Kerala on Saturday and Sunday, inflicting heavy loss to farmers and inundating low-lying areas.
According to an official bulletin from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the sudden downpour due to strong westerly wind flow from Arabian Sea to South Peninsular India in lower tropospheric levels is likely to continue and widespread rainfall is expected for the next four days over Kerala and Lakshadweep.
A red alert has been declared in five districts and orange alert in seven districts on Monday warning of extreme and very heavy rainfall. Kodungallur in Thrissur recorded a whopping 20 cm of rainfall, the highest quantity of rainfall for the last 24 hours ended at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday. Aluva and Irinjalakuda received intense rainfall of 19 cm and 16.7 cm respectively, during the same period, while the catchment areas of Neyyar dam in Thiruvananthapuram received 17 cm rain.
Three rescued
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued three fishermen, who set off from Vizhinjam, off the coast of Thengapattanam, near Tamil Nadu, border. As soon as the ICG received distress call, it started search and rescue operations and found the missing fishermen off Thengapattanam coast. ICG Ship C-427 which was pushed into action will reach Vizhinjam jetty with fishermen within one-and-a-half hours. Mohammed Haneefa (57), Anwar (43) and Meera Sahib (52) who were rescued were taken to Community Health Center, Vizhinjam, for medical check on arrival.
The IMD bulletin issued on Sunday noon said the southwest monsoon is likely to advance into South Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal during next 24 hours. Further, a cyclonic circulation lies over South Interior Karnataka and neighbourhood extending up to middle tropospheric levels.
It is very likely to persist over the same region with slight northward movement during the next five days, enhancing the rain activity over Kerala. The fishing activity has been suspended along the Kerala coast until further notice, according to Kerala State Disaster Management Authority.
