A resurgent monsoon brought Kerala to its knees on Wednesday, with the State tottering under the worst floods in its history.
Submerged by floodwaters, cities and villages lay crippled as the circle of destruction widened.
As many as 24 were killed in rain-related incidents during the day and several missing, as the withering broadside unleashed by the monsoon rocked the State from one end to the other.
Towns and settlements were cut off by flash floods and landslips; train, air and road traffic were disrupted; and 35 dams and barrages had to be opened to let out water from fast-filling reservoirs.
People residing along the banks of the Periyar were alerted to the possibility of flash floods, and evacuation procedures were in place.
Flights diverted
The Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery suspended operations till Saturday after floodwaters entered the runway and the operations area.
Flights to Kochi were diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and Coimbatore.
Panic gripped the downstream areas of the Mullaiperiyar dam after the water level rose to the capacity mark of 142 ft, cutting off the State highway connecting Kottayam with Kattappana, the headquarters of Idukki district.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held an emergency review meeting with top officials at the government secretariat here in the morning and later spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the phone, seeking more men and material to help the State tide over the unprecedented floods.
He also spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami urging him to ensure that more water is drawn from the Mullaiperiyar reservoir so that the water level in the dam can be kept at 139 ft.
Central Kerala and the northern districts were a picture of devastation with the deluge inundating vast tracts of land. Swollen rivers breached banks and tore through settlements and farmlands. Widespread crop damage was reported across the State. Munnar town in Idukki and Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta were cut off by raging floodwaters. Based on a request for help from the State Government, the Centre despatched army units in three Air Force planes to Kerala to help the civilian administration tackle the crisis. As emergency services toiled hard to rescue residents from flooded colonies, rescue teams, aided by mechanised equipment, were busy through the day sifting through landslips to bring out survivors.
The Government has issued a red alert for Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram, Palakkad, Idukki and Ernakulam districts on Thursday after the weather office warned of heavy rainfall. A holiday has been declared for educational institutions in 10 districts and all public examinations have been postponed.
Munnar was isolated by landslips and the surging waters from the Mattupetty dam fed by copious rains in the catchment areas. The water level in the Idamalayar dam also crossed the full reservoir level while that in the Idukki dam crossed the 2398 ft mark. People along both banks of the Periyar river were shifted to safer places after the water level rose by more than 1.5 metres on Tuesday. The shutters of the Pampa, Kakki and Anathode dams were also raised to increase the discharge and stabilise the water level in the reservoirs.
The Southern Railway had to suspend train services on the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil route following a landslip at Eraniel and that between Kollam-Shencottah. Train services on other routes were also regulated due to flooding of tracks. Landslips and flooding disrupted road traffic along the Kozhikode-Mysore route as well.
The current spell of rains is attributed to a depression over coastal Odisha which deveoped on Wednesday morning. A weather inference issued by the India Met Department said the system remained practically stationary over the same region at 2.30 pm. It is likely to move west-north-westerly direction during the coming 24 hours, the Met office said.