High alert was issued in the district following the declaration of red alert here on July 22 and orange alert on July 21, 23 and 24. There was some respite on Saturday from heavy rains that drenched the district on Friday.
One house was completely damaged and eight houses partially damaged in the Taliparamba taluk in heavy rains on Friday. In the Kannur Corporation area, 15 houses were affected by flooding at Thavakkara, 10 houses at Padannathode and four houses at Pallikkunnu. As many as 89 people were shifted to relief camps opened at the Thavakkara U.P. School and the Government Town Higher Secondary School. Flooding was reported from Madayi and Kadambur panchayats.
Gearing up
In view of the high alert, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) called on families living in areas affected by the 2018 floods and landslips to put together emergency kits containing important documents and valuable items, among other things. The kits should also contain a torch, 500-ml water, ORS packet, emergency medicines, antiseptic lotions, 100 gram of cashew nuts, 100-gram raisins or dates, a small knife, 10 chlorine tablets, a battery bank or a torch battery, an ordinary mobile phone with charged battery and call plan, portable radio, emergency cash and ATM cards. The items should be covered in a plastic bags and kept in easily accessible places in households, said a press release.
The authorities advised the public to avoid travelling to hill areas from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in view of the threat of landslips. As rivers and streams are likely to be in spate during the heavy downpour, people should abstain from going closer to them and ensure that children are not near such sources of danger.
As the monsoon showers intensified, a round-the-clock control room started functioning under the Kannur Electrical Circle Office to handle electricity-related dangers including snapping of live electric lines in heavy rains and winds. The control room numbers are 9496011176 and 9496010101.