Kerala rains: Red alert in Ernakulam for Monday, Idukki and Kannur for Tuesday; severe rain likely in next 5 days

He also requested residents to refrain from travelling to the hilly regions of the state.

Early on Monday, the IMD predicted rainfall across the state for five consecutive days.

“The Monsoon trough at mean sea level is south of its normal position. The off-shore trough at mean sea level runs from the south Maharashtra coast to the Kerala coast.

A cyclonic circulation lies over central parts of south Bay of Bengal in middle levels and another cyclonic circulation over the north Andaman Sea in lower levels,” stated the weather forecast by IMD.

“Isolated heavy rainfall also likely over Kerala and Mahe during the next five days, with extremely heavy falls over Kerala and Mahe on 4 and 5 July,” added the IMD in its statement.

Related: Delay in monsoon onset attributed to a Pacific superstorm

Monsoon moves to its active stage

“Due to the influence of the cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, the speed of the wind has intensified. The wind speed and the off-shore trough between Kerala and Gujarat coasts are the two major reasons for the intensified rain in the state. This has led the monsoon to its active stage and its effect will remain for a few days,” Abhilash S, associate professor at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) told South First. 

According to Abhilash, similar spells of rain are common every monsoon season like a cycle and it could be expected at least thrice in the season, anytime between June and September.

“We are expecting the current spell to last till 7 July, the peak time is expected between 3 to 5 July,” Abhilash added.

Also read: Kuttikattukara relief camp is home for Pushpamma every monsoon

‘Prepared for adverse conditions’

Sekhar L Kuriakose, member-secretary of Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) told South First that the preparedness for monsoon had taken place much ahead of the season and there was no need to panic.

“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan headed the state disaster management initiative and released the Orange Book 2023 where all the measures to counter adverse conditions have been laid out,” said Kuriakose.

Chief Minister Vijayan is the chairman of KSDMA.

Ahead of monsoon onset, on 31 May, Vijayan had given the KSDMA a slew of directives so that it was prepared for the coming rains.

In a statement, the Chief Minister’s Office stated that Vijayan directed officials to ensure basic facilities at the relief camps and to make people living in hilly areas prone to landslides aware of the risks and train them to reach the camps on their own.

The chief minister also emphasised procuring and storing rescue equipment locally to help civil defence and other volunteers to initiate rescue operations quickly, in case of emergencies.

Kerala learned from floods

Since 2019, the KSDMA publishes a book called the Orange Book of Disaster Management — that issues directives to each department on how to prepare for the monsoon.

This includes training for officers as well as relief and rehabilitation in an emergency

In an earlier interview with South First,  Fahad Mazrook, a hazard analyst with the Kerala Disaster Management Authority, told that the government systems had learned from the floods in 2018 and 2019.

“The state has been upgrading its measures to reduce flooding each year,” he said.

He added that Kerala was trying to build a resilient community and all the action plans of disaster management were decentralised.

The state also collaborates and takes disaster management models from various agencies, including those of the Netherlands and Germany, he said.

South First tried contacting Ernakulam District Collector SNK Umesh but the calls went unattended.