Just a month after the state of Kerala was hit by heavy rains and floods, causing loss of human lives and damage to property, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) announced on Sunday, 23 September, that heavy rains are predicted in five districts of the state on 25 and 26 September.
The Chief Minister’s Office took to Twitter on Sunday night to announce that a yellow alert has been declared in the districts of Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Wayanad for 25 September while Palakkad, Thrissur, Idukki and Wayanad districts will be on yellow alert on 26 September.
Yellow alert is the first weather alert to notify the people living in disaster-prone areas to take precautionary measures. This alert is for weather conditions that do not pose any immediate threat to the people living in that area, but is more like an alert to inform them and make them aware of the conditions so that they are prepared.
“MET Centre has predicted heavy rainfall (64.4 mm to 124.4 mm) in these districts [sic],” said the CMO office in its tweet on Sunday night.
The Chief Minister’s Office went on to say, “The State Disaster Management Authority has instructed district authorities to be on alert and directed them to take necessary precautions.”
It is also to be noted that the districts which have been put on yellow alert on 25 and 26 September were some of the worst-hit districts during the floods that ravaged the state in August.
Kerala witnessed heavy rains, floods and landslides since the month of July. But the worst phase of the monsoon began on 8 August and lasted till the end of the month, resulting in the death of more than 450 people, displacement of lakhs of people and destruction of property on a large-scale.
(This story was published in an arragement The News Minute.)
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