Time ticks, search gets tougher; heavy rain forecast adds to worry

Rescue workers have not been able to make much headway in the massive landslide areas of Kavalappara, nearly a week after rain and flood-ravaged the state

Mymuna had left her house for a relief camp when the water level kept rising in and around Poochakuthu, near Nilambur, and on her comeback, what she found in its place were the mangled remains. The 59-year-old and six other members of her family have been

KOCHI: Nearly a week after rain and flood-ravaged Kerala, search operations have not made much headway in the massive landslide areas of Kavalappara in Malappuram. To add to the worries, the Met Department has forecast extremely heavy rainfall in many parts of the state on Wednesday.

While the death toll climbed to 92 on Tuesday, the government said 59 people are missing — 51 in Malappuram alone. With at least 40 persons still missing from Kavalappara, where an entire hill was wiped off last Friday, the toll is expected to rise in coming days.

The Met Department, meanwhile, has issued ‘red alert’ for Malappuram and Kozhikode, the worst-hit districts in the Southwest Monsoon, on Wednesday. Extremely heavy rain (more than 204.4 mm) is expected to last in 24 hours.

Orange alert — heavy to very heavy rain of 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm — has been issued for another six districts —Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod on Wednesday. As a precaution, the district collectors have declared Wednesday as holiday for educational institutions in nine districts — Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Wayanad, Thrissur and Ernakulam.

With water receding in several areas, people have started returning to their houses from relief camps. The number of people staying in various camps has come down from 2.86 lakh at 3pm on Monday to 2.21 lakh at 7pm on Tuesday. The number of relief camps also came down on Tuesday to 1,206 from Monday’s 1,624.