Heavy rains, strong winds damage homes, crops in Kerala as monsoon arrives early

Thiruvananthapuram | Heavy rains and strong winds caused damage to homes and crops, power outages and waterlogging on roads in Kerala as the monsoons arrived early in the state on Saturday.

Uprooted trees and broken branches damaged homes and vehicles in various parts of the state and dislodged electricity poles caused power disruptions in several areas.

Roads were waterlogged in many rural and urban areas of the state as heavy rains continued to lash the state throughout the day.

Revenue Minister K Rajan said some places might receive huge rains in a short period of time without any warning, leading to flash floods and landslides.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced the early onset of monsoons in the state. It said that the state sees early arrival of monsoon after a gap of 16 years.

According to the IMD, the monsoon arrived eight days earlier than usual and the last time this happened was on May 23, 2009.

Prior to that, early onset of monsoon was seen on May 19, 1990, after 1975, it said.

The IMD further said that with the arrival of the monsoon, heavy rains are expected to continue across Kerala and it sounded red and orange alerts in several districts of the state for the next few days.

It issued a red alert in Kannur and Kasaragod districts and an orange alert in the remaining 12 districts of the state for the day.

Besides that, it issued a red alert in 5 districts and an orange alert in 9 districts for Sunday.

For Monday, it sounded a red alert in 11 districts of Kerala and an orange alert in the remaining three.

In view of the monsoon arrival and the red alerts issued by the IMD, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government will be on alert for the next one week in the prevailing situation.

"A state-level review meeting has been convened and instructions have been given to complete the rain-related preparations immediately," he said in a Facebook post.

He also said that pre-monsoon review meetings and preparatory activities have been completed in all districts.

The CM further said that a letter has been sent to the Centre requesting deployment of nine teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in the state.

"Instructions have also been given to shift people, living in areas prone to landslides, to safe places as a precaution. Control rooms have been set up in all taluk offices in the state," he said.

Vijayan also said that the District Disaster Management Authority's Emergency Operations Centers, which are functioning 24 hours a day, can be reached at the toll-free number 1077 and the State Emergency Operations Center can be contacted on 1070.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke to Collectors of Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhikode to assess the disaster preparedness in their respective districts in view of the heavy rain warning, a party statement said.

In Wayanad, the District Collector ordered closure of all adventure tourism centres close to the red zone and other disaster-prone areas due to the heavy rains and red alert in the district for Sunday.

All quarrying activities have also been suspended in Wayanad, the district administration said.

In Pathanamthitta too, quarrying and night travel to the hill stations has been banned by the district administration from May 24 to May 28.

The district administration also ordered evacuation of people living close to disaster-prone areas.

In the morning, state Revenue Minister K Rajan said the strong winds and heavy rains indicated an early onset of monsoons in the state.

He also said that the rains would be more in districts north of Kozhikode, Idukki and Pathanamthitta.

The minister further said, while speaking to a TV channel, that preparations have been made to deal with the monsoons.

Rajan said that instructions have been issued to all District Collectors with regard to monsoon preparedness and that he will hold an online meeting with them during the day to assess the situation in each of their districts.

He also advised the general public to take precautions in view of the heavy rains and to travel only to safe locations.

The minister also advised against spreading of unverified and unofficial information about the rains on social media.

A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.

Jharkhand man dies as earth caves in during NH construction in Kannur

Kannur (Kerala) | A 27-year-old construction worker from Jharkhand died after earth caved in during the construction of National Highway 66 here on Saturday, police said.

The mishap occurred in the evening as the highway construction work was progressing at Chalakkunu here.

The deceased was identified as Biyas, they said.

Earth caved in when a concrete wall was being built on the side of the road, police said adding that tragedy struck the man as he got trapped in between the sand and an iron rod.

The body of the deceased man was shifted to district hospital mortuary later, police added.