Flooding has left 186 dead and thousands homeless in India
Over 20,000 houses have been damaged. 180,000 farmers are affected & total damages are estimated at about $1.2 billion.
(Bloomberg) – India’s southern state of Kerala is bracing for widespread showers through at least Monday even as the province with a population exceeding Texas battles rising flood waters and overflowing dams that’s left 186 dead and thousands homeless.
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One of the country’s top tourist destinations, which boasts of miles of beaches and palm-fringed backwaters that’s been promoted for decades as ‘God’s Own Country,’ has seen unprecedented rain in the past few days that’s forced authorities to open the flood gates of 33 dams.
41% more monsoon showers than normal
A red alert has been sounded in all but one of the 14 districts of Kerala. The meteorological department has warned heavy rains may affect these districts, according to a Twitter post by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday.
Widespread downpour is forecast until at least Aug. 20 in the region, which has already witnessed 41% more monsoon showers than normal this year, according to the India Meteorological Department. That compares with rain that has been 8% below average for the country as a whole.
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The armed forces have joined the federal and state disaster relief services to rescue people trapped in swirling waters and have moved to rooftops or higher ground. The state is facing its second-worst flood after 1924, according to an update on the website of the Kerala chief minister’s distress relief fund.
Collapsed bridges, landslides & 20,000 houses damaged
As many as 23 bridges have collapsed, more than 211 landslides have been reported and about 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) of roads have been destroyed. Over 20,000 houses have been damaged, 180,000 farmers are affected and total damages are estimated at about 83.2 billion rupees ($1.2 billion). A large part of the state remained without electricity as several substations were shut to avoid electrocution.
More than 1,500 relief camps are catering to 223,000 people providing food and drinking water, Tom Jose, chief secretary of the Kerala government said in a phone interview from the state’s capital Thiruvananthapuram. Helicopters manned by the Indian Air Force have been pressed into service to airlift people from the flooded areas. Rescue efforts have been difficult, he said.
The facilities of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Asia’s largest software exporter, in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram were not directly affected, according to the company’s spokeswoman.
Tourism hurt
While it’s not the peak tourist period in the state, the monsoon season does attract a lot of visitors. The international airport at Kochi has been shut until Aug. 26 after the runway and taxiway got submerged, according to Cochin International Airport Ltd. Train services in several parts of the state have also been suspended because of water overflowing tracks, landslides and flash floods, according to a Twitter post by Southern Railway.
“Tourism is completely out of gear,” Pronab Sarkar, president of Indian Association of Tour Operators, said by telephone. “Rescue operations for existing tourists are going on and no fresh tourists are bring sent at the moment.”
The floods will have an adverse impact until the middle of September, Sarkar said. Tourism accounts for about 10% of Kerala’s gross domestic product, with the state getting about 1 million foreign tourists last year and 14.7 million local visitors.
The natural disaster could mean a loss of tourism income for an entire season while the state rebuilds itself, said Abhijit Sen, a New Delhi-based economist. “But this is also a wake up call for India to plan better in the long run to help adapt for extreme climate change events.”
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