On 8 August 2019, due to heavy rainfall in the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

season, severe

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

affected

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. As a security measure in the prevailing situation of heavy rains, the

India Meteorological Department India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an Indian agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is headquar ...

had issued a red alert in the 9 districts in Northern and Central Kerala, orange alert in 3 districts of Central Kerala, and yellow alert in the 2 districts of southern Kerala. Thousands of people have been evacuated to safer places and relief camps. A total of 121 people have died due to rain-related incidents as of 19 August 2019. Another deluge had hit the state in August 2018, in which over 470 people died and properties worth US$5.8 billion (₹40,000 crore) were damaged.

Causes

The extreme rains were triggered by a depression toss the Arabian sea resulting in intense convection over Kerala. Every year parts of South Asia are hit by a period of heavy rains known monsoons which usually fall between June and September. It is caused by a change of wind patterns over the region. This change causes heavy rains in the summer and long dry spells over the other months. In India, the monsoon rains can provide 70% of the country's rainfall for the year. The rain fall so quickly and heavily that it can cause sudden flooding. The rationale for the anomalous rainfall in 2018 might have recurred the extreme events in 2019; i.e., the High-Frequency Mixed Rossby-Gravity Waves in the Mid-Troposphere which were triggered by the synoptic disturbances of the tropical Pacific. These high-frequency waves manifested as cyclonic and anticyclonic circulations and dilated the wind field to establish zones of convection in the tropics, as they propagated across the Indian Ocean basin. Although the Madden-Julian Oscillation phase with 20–40 days period has favored convection in the tropics, the high-frequency mode correlates better with the anomalous precipitation during the intervals of extreme events.

Impact

As of 19 August 2019, 121 people have been killed due to the floods across the state of Kerala. Over 2 lakh people have been directly affected by the flood, and have been shifted to 1318 relief camps in different parts of Kerala. Airport authorities suspended operations of the flood-affected ochin International Airporttill 15:00 (IST) on 11 August 2019. The data from the Kerala State Disaster Management states that, as many as 1,789 houses had been damaged fully in between 8 and 19 August, while the number of partially damaged houses is 14,542. There have been 80 landslides in the span of 2 days, as said by the Chief Minister. Many people were buried alive and could not be found. The situation was critical as the calamities interfered with the rescue operations. Districts that have been severely affected include

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

Idukki Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

and

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

districts.

Rescues

Kerala's State Disaster Management Authority, Kerala police, Kerala Fire & Rescue Services along with the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

, Indian Navy, civilians, volunteers like Seva Bharati, DYFI, SFI,

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. Whil ...

, White Guard Volunteers fishermen from coastal Kerala are actively taking part in the rescue operations in flood-affected regions. However, inclement weather with heavy rains and landslides are hampering the rescue operations in the hilly regions of

, and

districts. 83

National Disaster Response Force The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is a specialized force in India, tasked with the responsibility of responding to natural disasters, natural and man-made disasters. It operates under the National Disaster Management Authority (India) ...

(NDRF) teams were deployed in addition to the 173 teams of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard to take part in the relief operations. Animal rescue was carried out by local NGOs and activists on ground mainly in places like Wayanad and Nilambur. Notable work was done by Sally Varma of

Humane Society International Humane World for Animals, formerly called Humane Society International (HSI) was founded in 1991 as the international division of The Humane Society of the United States. HSI expanded the HSUS's activities into Central and South America, Afr ...

/India in Nilambur where around 500 kg of dog food and more than 5000 kg of cattle feed and 2500 kg of goat feed was distributed to the starving animals.

Relief and monetary aid

Immediate financial aid of up to ₹10,000 each for all calamity-hit families which had suffered losses in the torrential rains. A sum of Rs 4 lakh would be given to those whose houses had been fully damaged or had become uninhabitable and ₹10 lakh to those who had lost their houses as well as land in the rain fury and landslides, Chief Minister's cabinet meetin
Kerala Govt Announces Flood relief Package; Rs 10,000 Immediate Aid to Calamity-hit Families
In August 2019, Public has been very generous contributing to Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. As on 15 Aug 2019 at 19:40 income is ₹4368.2 Crore.

References

External links