TORRENTIAL rains accompanied by fierce winds and high tidal waves wreaked havoc and claimed two lives in Kerala, as it lashed the State since Friday night forcing the Government to shift hundreds of families to relief camps, sources said on Saturday. The southernmost district, Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod in the northern tip, witnessed widespread uprooting of trees, water-logging and disruption of power supply since Friday night. The Central Water Commission (CWC) issued flood warning to the State in the wake of rising water level in rivers like Manimala and Achankovil. As the India Meteorological Department (IMD) sounded ‘red alert’, indicating the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall above 204 mm in 24 hours, in 9 districts, the entire State was put on high vigil.

 

The ‘red alert’, in view of the severe deep depression over Arabian sea, was issued in Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod district, according to the IMD. High range and coastal belts in the central and northern districts, where houses and roads were rampantly destroyed and trees got uprooted widely, were the worst affected in the rain fury. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the impact of cyclone Tauktae was expected to last the next 24 hours in the State.

 

“Two days of torrential rains and strong winds have caused widespread destruction across the state. As per the IMD figures, Kerala received an average rainfall of 145.5 mm in the last two days alone,” he told reporters here. Kochi and Peerumedu stations registered rainfall above 200 mm in the last 24 hours, he said. Two deaths have been reported in the State in the last two days. Heavy rainfall in Karnataka coast: CYCLONE Tauktae has hit the coastal region of Karnataka resulting in heavy rainfall especially in Dakshina Kannada district, where wind speed of around 75 km per hour was recorded, IMD said.