Heavy rain with thunderstorm lashes several parts of Kerala; orange alert for 8 districts

Thiruvananthapuram, October 21

After a brief lull, heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, lashed several parts of Kerala on Thursday as the weatherman issued an orange alert for eight districts of the state indicating very heavy showers.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its latest update, put the districts - Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur - on orange alert.

A 'yellow alert', predicting isolated heavy rain, was issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kasaragod districts for the day.

A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert denotes very heavy rain from 6 cm to 20 cm. A yellow alert means heavy rain between 6 cm and 11 cm.

"Southwest monsoon has been active over Kerala. Rain occurred at most places in the state and at a few places in Lakshadweep," an IMD statement said here.

Parambikulam in Palakkad district received 12 cm rain while Palluruthy in Ernakulam and Enamakkal (Thrissur) and Mannarkkad (Palakkad ) received 11 cm and 9 cm each rain respectively, according to the statement. 

Fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea in the state as squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph is likely to prevail over Kerala coast on Thursday, it added.

The southern state was ravaged by heavy downpour and subsequent landslides in the south-central districts on October 15 and 16 which resulted in the loss of 42 lives and six people going missing. PTI