Thiruvananthapuram, August 18: The flood situation in Kerala has been worsened. Three more teams of National Disaster Response team (NDRF) have been moved from Pune to Kerala. Now a total of seven NDRF teams from Pune have been sent for rescue operations. The state has suffered a loss of Rs 19,512 crore due to floods. The death toll in the flood-hit state has risen to 357. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert in 11 of the 14 districts of the state.

Kerala has received 619.5mm of rainfall till August 16, almost thrice the normal. Last year, Kerala received 244.1 mm of rain till this time. Besides NDRF, the Indian Army, The Indian Air Force, The Indian Navy and Coast Guards have rescued thousands of people from the flood-hit areas of the state.

Earlier in the day, around 6.5 ton of food packets have been delivered by Government of Maharashtra to Coast Guard at Worli Dock to dispatch for people affected in floods in Kerala. So far, 451 civilians have been rescued by the Indian Air Force’s Mi-17 and ALH helicopters, and 17 tonnes of food packets have also been airdropped. The Coast Guards today have rescued a 10-day-old infant from a house in flood-hit East Kadangaloor.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Kerala Governor P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister K J Alphons conducted an aerial survey of some of the areas affected by the flood. The PM has also an immediate aid of Rs 500 crore from the Centre. Support has also poured from the various states to help the people affected by the floods in the southern state of the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 19, 2018 12:04 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).