Southern Kerala was lashed by heavy rain and strong winds yesterday leaving trees uprooted at several places in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts and bringing traffic chaos.
The cyclonic storm Ochhi left a trail of destruction and claimed four lives.
The metrological office said the heavy rains and winds in the southern districts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu was due to a depression over southwest Bay of Bengal near the Sri Lanka coast and it had moved westwards and intensified into a deep depression in the early hours of yesterday.
Kerala’s capital district, which faced the brunt of the storm, reported the death of an elderly couple after a live wire fell on their house and a woman was trapped under a tree. A man died in Kollam after a tree fell on his vehicle.
The Met has forecast heavy rains for today in southern Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep and also parts of Nicobar Islands.
The report said gale wind with speeds reaching 65-75kmph and gusting to 85kmph are likely along and off south Kerala over the next 24 hours and off south Tamil Nadu. Squally winds with speed reaching 55kmph to 65kmph, and gusting to 75kmph, are also very likely along and around Lakshadweep Islands.
The Kerala government has already opened a special control room under the charge of a top police officer. The Met office advised fishermen not to venture into the sea along and off south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala coasts and Lakshadweep Islands.
Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who surveyed the worst-hit areas, said 250 fishermen who ventured out to sea in some 50 boats had not returned by late evening.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a video-conference of district collectors and reviewed the rescue measures. “The fact that the fishermen have not returned is a cause for concern,” he told reporters after the meeting.
He ordered the district authorities to evacuate people living within the 100-metre periphery of the coasts and sought the help of the navy and airforce to trace the missing fishermen.
The state’s disaster management authority issued a warning of extended outage in the area. District collector K Vasuki has ordered the closure of all dangerous hill roads and cautioned people about possible landslides.
State police chief Loknath Behera has issued an alert to district police chiefs and units and the coastal police to remain alert and provide all possible assistance to the rescue and evacuation operations.
The railways has cancelled or diverted several trains, and educational institutions will remain closed today.
Meanwhile Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called off his rally in Thiruvananthapuram. The Gandhi scion was to address a rally at the Shanghumukham beach today to mark the conclusion of Padayorukkam, the state-wide roadshow launched on November 1 to mobilise support for the national elections 15 months away. The United Democratic Front (UDF), which the Congress leads in Kerala, said they would announce a new date later.
Cars are stranded in floodwaters after heavy rains in Pampa, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, yesterday.
