MONSOON TURBULENCE: The resumption of monsoon has increased the magnitude of sea erosion in different parts of the State. A scene from Valiathura in the city on Saturday. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Thiruvananthapuram: Squally showers lashed the district on Saturday as reports of monsoon- related damage started trickling in from various places. As many as nine houses were destroyed and 100 damaged all over the district. Strong waves pounded the coastal areas, eating into the beaches and damaging houses.

Control rooms have been opened at the Collectorate and the four taluk offices in the district. The administration on Saturday intensified the search for a four-year-old girl who was reported missing after she fell into the swollen Killi river at Kattakkal, near the Killipalam bridge, on Friday. Search teams have been pressed into service near the mouth of the river at Thiruvallam.

Sea waves whipped up by strong winds battered the coastal villages in the district. The fury of the waves abated by noon but residents were still haunted by fear. Poonthura, Panathura and Poovar were the worst affected areas. Mayor C.Jayan Babu on Saturday visited Poonthura to assess the situation and the relief work. In the Poovar village in Neyyatinkara taluk, eight families were relocated to safer places after the sea flooded their houses.

In the Neyyatinkara taluk, eight houses were destroyed and 54 damaged. Thirty four houses were damaged in Nedumangad, 11 in Thiruvananthapuram and one in Chirayinkeezh.

Heavy crop loss was reported from Aryanad in the Nedumangad taluk.

In the city, the Fire and Rescue Service had to be called in to cut down a palm tree that threatened to collapse on houses inside the Vrindavan Gardens at Pattom.

The National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting has predicted isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places in Kerala during the next three to four days.

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