While Kerala has been receiving pre-monsoon showers, an IMD official said that Cyclone Amphan is triggering more rainfall across Kerala.
With the Amphan super cyclonic storm intensifying over the Bay of Bengal, Kerala will receive moderate to heavy rainfall until May 21, announced the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
A yellow alert has been issued in all the districts of the state for Monday by IMD, which has forecast isolated heavy rainfall. According to IMD, yellow alert asks the district to be aware. The Met Department has forecast isolated heavy rainfall for nine districts on Tuesday - Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram.
"Kerala has already been receiving pre-monsoon showers. With the super cyclone Amphan, there is a movement of clouds from high pressure to low pressure areas, triggering more rainfall across Kerala for the next four days," a duty officer at IMD Thiruvananthapuram confirmed to TNM.
Kerala has already received 10 per cent excess summer rain from March 1 to May 14, recording 234.2mm rainfall as opposed to the normal 213.7 mm. In Kottayam and Pathanamthitta, 60 and 55 percent excess rainfall has been recorded so far.
In Kottayam district, which received heavy rainfall on Sunday, over 50 houses near the town area of Vaikom collapsed on Monday. Speaking to TNM, Vaikom Station House Officer, S Pratheep, said, “Kottayam saw heavy showers on Sunday and several small buildings including shops and houses around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple were damaged due to the rains. Trees have fallen and electric lines have collapsed due to the rains.”
The famous Vaikom Mahadeva Temple too has sustained minor damages with parts of its roof and Oottupura (refectory) collapsing due to the rains.
“There have been no reports of people injured due to the rains so far,” the SHO added.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has also warned fishermen in the state's coastal districts to not venture out into the sea until May 20. As per the IMD weather warning, fishermen in Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep coasts have been advised to not venture out into the sea on May 18, 19 and 20 due to rough wind and sea conditions.
As per the KSDMA guidelines, those living in thatched roof houses, buildings with asbestos sheets etc must inform authorities by dialling 1077 and move to secure locations based on the directives issued by the district authorities. In case residents witness collapsed electrics posts and trees due to rains and winds, they must inform the Kerala State Electricity board control room at 1912 or the District Disaster Management Authority at 1077 immediately. Those employed in construction work must stop work and shift to safe locations if rains intensify.
According to IMD’s bulletin at 2.45pm, Amphan, the Super Cyclonic Storm over the Bay of Bengal is likely to cross West Bengal – Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during the afternoon/evening of May 20. The storm is expected to come with a maximum sustained wind speed of 165-175 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.