Keralam rain fury: 4 killed in landslides as KSDMA terms intense rainfall a "cloudburst"

Extremely heavy rainfall measuring up to 361 mm in 24 hours has triggered a series of landslides and debris flows in Kerala's southern districts, leaving four people dead, officials said on Saturday.

Four people have died after extremely heavy rainfall measuring up to 361 mm in 24 hours triggered a series of landslides and debris flows in Keralam's southern districts, officials said on Saturday. According to Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose, Member Secretary of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), two fatalities each have been reported from Idukki and Kottayam districts. The intense rain spell, which occurred primarily between 10 PM and early morning, caused significant damage to houses and roads in slope-cut areas.

"So essentially, what we have seen is fatality numbers are very low, thankfully. We have two deaths reported from Idukki and two from Kottayam," he said. "Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki experienced extremely heavy rainfall measuring up to 361 mm at places in the last maybe 24 hours or so. Much of the rain spell was after about 10 o'clock at night and until the early morning. That has caused a number of landslides in slope-cut faces where there are roads and houses and all that. And we have also seen some debris flows happening here and there. It's just cloudburst, that's it. Nothing else, nothing big," Kuriakose added.

The official described the weather phenomenon simply as a "cloudburst". He noted that while the rainfall was unprecedented--stating that no river could contain 361 mm of rain in less than 12 hours--the fatality numbers remained low due to high public awareness and prior alerts. Providing a weather update, Kuriakose added, "The rain spell for the south is almost over. Now it's moving towards the north. It has started raining, so starting from Thrissur to Kasaragod today also we will experience significant amounts of rainfall until tomorrow. And after that, we will have a respite from this extremely heavy rainfall situation."

On the rescue front, nine NDRF teams have been pre-positioned in districts including Pathanamthitta, Idukki, and Alappuzha. Kuriakose emphasised the role of local agencies and volunteers, noting that approximately 10,000 'Aapda Mitra' volunteers and an equal number of Civil Defence personnel are working alongside the Fire and Rescue services.

"They all work in tandem with the fire and rescue service, and they coordinate. So while the might of fire and rescue is seen to be undermined many a times, they are our workhorses, you know. They are the ones who are really extending their arms to every part of Kerala. NDRFs are essentially meant for the last mile, you know, that extra edge when you have difficulties in cutting across certain places," he said. In view of the continuing rainfall, Keralam Health Minister K Muraleedharan directed the Health Department to convene an emergency meeting of officials today. The meeting, scheduled for 11 AM, will be held online and chaired by Health Department Director Meenakshi.

The emergency session, which will include District Medical Officers and NHM District Programme Managers, aims to review the functioning of relief camps and discuss local-level medical arrangements. Further action will be determined after assessing the specific needs of each affected district. (ANI)