At least 35 people have passed away, while hundreds of others have been displaced or suffered property damages as rain lashes Kerala. Over the last few days the southern state has witnessed extremely heavy rainfall and landslides with horrifying visuals showing inundated roads, ongoing rescue operations and even entire houses being washed away.
As the death toll in the Kerala floods and heavy rainfall reached 35 on Monday, rising water levels in various dams has prompted the Kerala government to issue alerts to the public. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has reportedly called an emergency meeting. Personnel from the three defence forces, the Army, Navy and the Air Force, have been pressed into service for rescue and rehabilitation efforts in the state.
House and wall collapses have been reported, with officials stepping in to rescue people in several parts of the state. In Kottayam's Mundakayam area, a one storied house with a terrace was seen toppling into the river and being washed away by the strong water currents on Sunday. The now viral video of the incident shows onlookers standing by as the house crumbles down and falls into the river, vanishing within seconds.
Meanwhile in Thiruvananthapuram, six people including a 22-day old infant were rescued by fire department officials after they became trapped trapped by a concrete wall collapsing onto their house. Binu, one of the family members said it was raining in the night and the compound wall collapsed and fell over the house. "We heard a sound that a concrete slab fell over my brother in law Unnikrishnan who was sleeping in the veranda. He was rescued by the fire force after one and half hours of effort," he added.
