The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red alert for Tuesday in 10 districts of the southern state of Kerala due to the ongoing torrential rains that have been causing landslides and rising river water levels in several areas of the state. In the same 10 areas, IMD also issued a Red alert for August 3.
According to an IMD district rainfall forecast released for Kerala at 10 AM on Tuesday, the Red warning is in effect in all of the state's districts with the exception of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, and Kasaragod, where Orange alerts have been issued for August 2 and 3.
Additionally, the department issued a state-wide and isolated severe and very heavy rainfall warning through August 5.
The government set up relief camps in various districts as the heavy rains persisted, and tourist attractions in high-lying sections of Idukki were shut down.
The body of a man who had been missing for a day was found in Kottayam on Tuesday morning in the Koottikkal Chappath neighbourhood, according to the emergency operations center there.
Due to the torrential rains, the Chalakudy river in Thrissur rose by roughly 5 meters at 2 AM on Tuesday, prompting the district administration to advise residents of the low-lying districts along the river's banks to relocate to safer areas.
According to Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as of August 1 there were six rain-related fatalities and one was missing.
An orange signal denotes very heavy rains between 6 cm and 20 cm of rain, while a red alert means heavy to extremely heavy rainfall of exceeding 20 cm in 24 hours. A yellow signal denotes 6 to 11 cm of significant rainfall.
