Several districts of Kerala continue to reel as heavy rain continues to wreak havoc. The death toll, which Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said was 20 on Thursday afternoon, rose to 29 on Friday.
According to the IMD, all the 14 districts in Kerala are predicted to experience at least “heavy rainfall” with high spatial distribution till Tuesday, including the worst affected district of Wayanad, which is expected to receive "heavy to very heavy" rainfall.
Around 6,500 families were evacuated from Ernakulam on Friday evening. The evacuation began from Perumbavoor town. Drinking water is also going to be rationed in the district.
Addressing an emergency press meet on Thursday, Pinarayi also called the situation “unprecedented”, and “very alarming”. He also said that they had not witnessed something like this in the state earlier.
The army, navy, air force and the NDRF are involved in rescue and relief operations. NDRF and army teams are deployed at various places in the state for evacuation and rescue, including Wayanad, Kozhikode and Malappuram.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to Pinarayi Vijayan to take stock of the situation.
A total of 24 dams have been opened across the state to release water, leading to the flooding of towns and villages downstream.
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