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Many houses damaged; sea erosion poses a threat

Special Correspondent

Evenly spread heavy rain continues in State

Raining misery: A car covered by broken branches of trees that fell on it in Mallappally town in Pathanamthitta on Saturday evening.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Heavy rain continued in Kerala for the second day in succession on Sunday as active monsoon conditions prevailed.

The heaviest rain recorded during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday was at Cherthala, where the gauge touched 12 cm. Haripad (11 cm), Vythiri and Kochi (9 cm each), Kottayam and Vaikom (8 cm each), Kannur and Kozhikode (7 cm each), Thrissur and Karipur (6 cm each) and Thalasserry (5 cm) also received heavy rainfall during the day.

Several other centres, spread across all the districts of the State, received good rainfall of more than 2 cm.

India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rainfall in isolated places in the State during the next 24 hours. Strong winds, touching 45-55 kmph in sudden spurts, may blow across and off the State’s coast during the period.

The low pressure system that had taken shape over the Bay of Bengal a couple of days ago was persisting on Sunday, pulling the rain clouds from the Arabian Sea across the peninsula. International weather models had on Saturday found indications of another low pressure system developing along the west coast, but have since dropped the forecast. The department expects the intensity of the current spell of rainfall to decrease by Tuesday.

Reports of rain havoc have been pouring in from the districts. In Kozhikode, sea erosion continued to be a menace. Some houses at Mukhdar, Pallikandi, Kothi and Bangladesh Colony were under danger of being swept away by the sea and a few families were evacuated. Fisheries officials rescued two fishing boats off the Beypore coast. In Thrissur, seven houses were destroyed in sea erosion. Sandbags are being placed in many areas to ward off the waves.

Whirlwind

A devastating whirlwind and heavy downpour wreaked havoc in and around Mallappally town in Pathanamthitta on Saturday evening. As many as 100 houses had been damaged and 30 destroyed, sources said.

Power supply was disrupted in the town and surrounding areas when the 110-kV substation of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) stopped functioning following snapping of transmission lines at several points.

The total loss has been estimated at Rs.2 crore.

A whirlwind wreaked havoc at Mannadisala, Paruva, Navodaya junction and Chathanthara in Vechoochira panchayat in Ranni taluk on Sunday afternoon. Power supply was disrupted in the affected areas after electric posts got uprooted.

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