Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds lashed various parts of Wayanad till Thursday noon.
District Collector A. Geetha had declared holiday for all educational institutions, including professional colleges, in the district on Friday in the wake of heavy rains. However, residential schools will function normally.
Power supply remained disrupted for long hours even in towns as electric posts were damaged by trees that fell on power lines.
Ms. Geetha, who is also the chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority, directed the Forest department to restrict the entry of tourists to eco-tourism destinations.
The department should ensure availability of food for tribespeople in forest settlements with the support of the Tribal Development department. If needed, families should be shifted to nearby relief camps, for which suitable buildings should be identified. Special attention should be given to tribal settlements, she said.
Meanwhile, as many as 427 members of 109 families in Sulthan Bathery and Vythiri taluks were shifted to eight relief camps. Five houses were destroyed fully and 95 partially in the rains.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) visited low-lying areas that went underwater at Chaligaddaha, Kolery, Koodalkadavu, Panamaram, Arattuthara, and Valliyurkavu on Thursday and assessed the situation.
According to rainfall data available with the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, the highest rainfall was recorded in the Banasura control shaft area (183 mm), and the lowest was at Marakkadavu on the Kerala-Karnataka border (11.2 mm) in 24 hours till 8 a.m. on Thursday.
