Landslide at Kokkayar area in Idukki, Saturday (Photo: PTI)Kerala is yet again battling with rain fury and flood after almost two years. On Saturday, a number of roads and bridges were washed away in flood floods. Kottayam district is among the worst-hit districts in the state with Army and Air forces deployed to carry out rescue operations in the flood-affected area.
Reason behind the intense rain
“A low pressure system developed in the east-central Arabian Sea on October 14″, wrote the Indianexpress.com. This system moved closer to Kerala coast and triggered the massive rainfall”, it added. Because of this system, Kerala experienced heavy to very heavy rain, 115.5mm to 204.4mm in 24-hours. The place also witnessed extremely heavy rain (over 204.4mm in 24-hours) in at least six of its southern districts since Thursday.
Landslides, mudslides and flash floods were witnessed in most parts of the districts located between central and southern Kerala on Saturday. The region included–Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Is southwest monsoon withdrawal cause of rainfall?
The southwest monsoon withdrawal has been delayed significantly this year. The monsoon has been withdrawn from westm north, central and eastern Indian regions completely but still prevails in the southern peninsula. It could be due to the fact that with the withdrawal entering the peninsula regions, southern states, including Kerala, have reported thunderstorms and rainfall for over a week now.
IMD’s forecast
According to the weather agency IMD forecast, the heavy rainfall will continue over Kerala and Mahe till Sunday morning. The intensity of the rain is however expected to reduce after that. The Met office has alarmed moderate-to-high-intensity flash flood threat warning the likely recurrence over Thrissur, Ernakulam Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts on Sunday. All these districts will remain under a ‘red’ alert till early Monday.
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