“The official toll now is 106 dead. A total of 1,331 camps have been opened across the state, in which 147,000 people have moved in by this evening,” a Kerala state disaster management official told.
Kerala’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said the state now faced an “extremely grave” crisis with downpours predicted to last for days. The region’s main international airport, in Kochi, has been ordered closed until 26 August.
Many people were trapped inside their houses. A Kerala state disaster management official told, “at least 6,500 people are stranded in different parts of Kerala and the situation in three districts is particularly grim,”
Kerala, famed for its pristine palm-lined beaches and tea plantations, is battered by the monsoon every year but this year’s damage has been particularly severe. Floods have also caused havoc in other states, including Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Helicopters airlifted stranded victims from rooftops and dam gates were thrown open as torrential rain brought fresh havoc to the southern state popular with overseas tourists.
Hundreds of extra troops were deployed in the southern state, a major tourist hotspot, as the government issued a “red alert” over the region’s worst floods in decades.
About 540 army, navy and air forces reinforcements were sent to Kerala on Thursday to join the rescue effort.
People could be seen paddling lifeboats provided by the military, while in some areas families commandeered local wooden boats to ferry themselves to safety.
Army helicopters rescued families but also dropped food packets and drinking water to some of the worst-affected districts.
It has ordered the opening of gates at 34 dams and reservoirs where water levels had reached danger levels.
Cars and livestock washed away in the floods were seen on Indian television, and men and women wading through chest-high waters that had gushed into their homes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday on Twitter that he has ordered the defense ministry “to further step up the rescue and relief operations across the state. Praying for the safety and well-being of the people of Kerala”.
>Juthy Saha
