Kerala Flood Updates: Death count reaches 42, IMD issues red alert in 9 districts

Heavy downpours continue to batter major parts of India with states like Kerala and Karnataka pitted against severe rainfall. Death count has reached 42 in Kerala with more than 1 lakh people being shifted from flood-hit areas to highlands.

Flooding in Kottayam after incessant rainfall in the region. 42 people have died in Kerala so far this monsoon, due to floods. pic.twitter.com/I7CUf8DMfg

— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2019

IMD has issued red alert in 9 districts of Kerala which include Malappuram, Dukki, Thrissur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Palakkad. State government has ordered all educational institutes to remain closed for the day. Earlier, the Cochin international airport suspended its operations after its runway was submerged in water.

The UAE has issued a travel advisory to its citizens who are either in Kerala or intend to visit the state to exercise extreme caution in the light of heavy rains, which have caused damaging floods in many areas and killed 28 people.

Moreover, the districts in north Karnataka are also reeling under severe flood with rescue operations still going on. CM Yediyurappa conducted aerial surveys in Karnataka and took stock of the relief works being carried out in the state. In wake of increasing water-level in the Krishna river, the Raichur district administration put the villages along the banks of the Krishna in the district on high alert on Friday. 

Chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday announced Rs five lakh to the kin of people killed in the flood and rain-related incidents in the state, where 12 people have lost their lives.

Moreover, over 2.85 lakh people have been evacuated due to the devastating floods in western Maharashtra’s five districts, including the worst-hit Kolhapur and Sangli, with the death toll reaching 29 on Friday.

In Andhra Pradesh, 31 members belonging to the fishing community, including 12 women, who were trapped in the raging Godavari river at Polavaram were rescued by the Navy.

Heavy and incessant rains in south and west Odisha earlier this week claimed at least three lives, left two missing and hit over 1.3 lakh people in nine districts, officials said.

With agency inputs