Thiruvananthapuram, August 11: The death toll in flood hit Kerala has gone up to 37, with the majority of districts in the state put on red alert. According to CMO Kerala, red alert has been issued in 8 out of 14 districts and 53,500 people are living in the camps with 7500 families evacuated in Ernakulam district alone. Schools and colleges in many flood hit districts, continue to remain closed as life in the state has come to a standstill after the unrelenting rains. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued alerts for various districts and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 10 Lakh compensation to those who lost their houses and land.
Intensive rescue operations are underway in the state with 10 teams of the NDRF involved in relief operations, along with Army, Navy and coastguard. "Several teams are ready, whenever District Administration directs we will make our move. All teams have diving equipments, boats and are ready to help the public (sic)," said Commander Sridhar Warrier, PRO Defence, about the readiness of the force to undertake rescue operations.
A bridge was constructed by Defence Security personnel as a part of flood relief in Wayanad's Iritty on Saturday. Check the ANI tweet below to see the image of the bridge built to help the flood hit people in Wayanad:
A Bridge was constructed by Defence Security Corps as a part of flood relief in Wayanad's Iritty, today. #KeralaFloods pic.twitter.com/WP0du0Auzt
— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2018
On Saturday, Red Alert has been issued for Idukki and Wayanad till August 14 and Orange alert till August 15. Red Alert for Kannur till August 13 and Orange alert till August 15, have been issued by India Meteorological Department.
Aerial visuals of flood-affected areas of Kochi show major parts of the land submerged in water. See the visuals in the tweet below:
Kerala: Aerial visuals of flood-affected areas of Kochi. 29 people have lost their lives in the #Keralaflood. pic.twitter.com/De0f6Sp95Y
— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2018
"11 out of 14 districts of Kerala are under water. Govt of India has sent armed forces & they have been on ground for past 3 days & have been helping state govt administration. NDRF teams have also been sent. PM has also spoken to CM about this (sic)," said KJ Alphons, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Culture, and Tourism. Relief camps have been set up in different parts of the state as normal life continues to be affected due to Kerala Floods.
Relief camps have been set up in different parts of the state as normal life continues to be affected due to Kerala floods. Six people including three children were rescued by the NDRF from a village in Mananthavady Taluk in Wayanad district.
But even as stories of the environmental catastrophe continues to pour from various parts of Kerala, a video of a rescue worker, saving a child's life by carrying him and running away just seconds ahead before the Cheruthoni bridge was engulfed under water, reinforces one's belief in humanity. Watch the dramatic video of the rescue here.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 11, 2018 09:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).