Date | 8 August 2019 – 29 August 2019 |
---|---|
Location | Kerala, India |
Cause | Heavy rain Discharges Landslide |
Deaths | 121 dead [1] |
Property damage | ₹ 2,101.9 crore (US$250 million) [2] |
Website | www |
On 8 August 2019, due to heavy rainfall in the monsoon season, severe flood affected Kerala. [3] As a security measure in the prevailing situation of heavy rains, the India Meteorological Department had issued a red alert in the 9 districts in Northern and Central Kerala, orange alert in 3 districts of Central Kerala, and yellow alert in the 2 districts of southern Kerala. [4] Thousands of people have been evacuated to safer places and relief camps. [1] [5] A total of 121 [1] people have died due to rain-related incidents as of 19 August 2019.
Another deluge had hit the state in August 2018, in which over 470 people died and properties worth US$5.8 billion (₹40,000 crore) were damaged.
The extreme rains were triggered by a depression toss the Arabian sea resulting in intense convection over Kerala. [6] Every year parts of South Asia are hit by a period of heavy rains known monsoons which usually fall between June and September. It is caused by a change of wind patterns over the region. This change causes heavy rains in the summer and long dry spells over the other months. In India, the monsoon rains can provide 70% of the country's rainfall for the year. The rain fall so quickly and heavily that it can cause sudden flooding. The rationale for the anomalous rainfall in 2018 might have recurred the extreme events in 2019; i.e., the High-Frequency Mixed Rossby-Gravity Waves in the Mid-Troposphere which were triggered by the synoptic disturbances of the tropical Pacific. [7] These high-frequency waves manifested as cyclonic and anticyclonic circulations and dilated the wind field to establish zones of convection in the tropics, as they propagated across the Indian Ocean basin. Although the Madden-Julian Oscillation phase with 20–40 days period has favored convection in the tropics, the high-frequency mode correlates better with the anomalous precipitation during the intervals of extreme events. [8]
As of 19 August 2019, 121 people have been killed due to the floods across the state of Kerala. [1] Over 2 lakh people have been directly affected by the flood, and have been shifted to 1318 relief camps in different parts of Kerala. [1] Airport authorities suspended operations of the flood-affected [Cochin International Airport] till 15:00 (IST) on 11 August 2019. The data from the Kerala State Disaster Management states that, as many as 1,789 houses had been damaged fully in between 8 and 19 August, while the number of partially damaged houses is 14,542. [9]
There have been 80 landslides in the span of 2 days, as said by the Chief Minister. Many people were buried alive and could not be found. The situation was critical as the calamities interfered with the rescue operations. Districts that have been severely affected include Wayanad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Palakkad, Idukki, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts.
Kerala's State Disaster Management Authority, Kerala police, Kerala Fire & Rescue Services along with the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, civilians, volunteers like Seva Bharati, DYFI, SFI, White Guard Volunteers [10] fishermen from coastal Kerala are actively taking part in the rescue operations in flood-affected regions. [11] However, inclement weather with heavy rains and landslides are hampering the rescue operations in the hilly regions of Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts. [11] 83 National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) teams were deployed in addition to the 173 teams of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard to take part in the relief operations. [12]
Animal rescue was carried out by local NGOs and activists on ground mainly in places like Wayanad and Nilambur. Notable work was done by Sally Varma of Humane Society International/India in Nilambur where around 500 kg of dog food and more than 5000 kg of cattle feed and 2500 kg of goat feed was distributed to the starving animals. [13]
Immediate financial aid of up to ₹10,000 each for all calamity-hit families which had suffered losses in the torrential rains. A sum of Rs 4 lakh would be given to those whose houses had been fully damaged or had become uninhabitable and ₹10 lakh to those who had lost their houses as well as land in the rain fury and landslides, Chief Minister's cabinet meeting.Kerala Govt Announces Flood relief Package; Rs 10,000 Immediate Aid to Calamity-hit Families
In August 2019, Public has been very generous contributing to Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. As on 15 Aug 2019 at 19:40 income is ₹4368.2 Crore.
Kerala is situated between the Lakshadweep Sea to the west and the Western Ghats to the east. Kerala's coast runs some 590 km in length, while the state itself varies between 35–120 km in width. Geologically, pre-Cambrian and Pleistocene formations comprise the bulk of Kerala's terrain. The topography consists of a hot and wet coastal plain gradually rising in elevation to the high hills and mountains of the Western Ghats. Kerala lies between northern latitude of 8°.17'.30" N and 12°. 47'.40" N and east longitudes 74°.27'.47" E and 77°.37'.12" E. Kerala's climate is mainly wet and maritime tropical, heavily influenced by the seasonal heavy rains brought up by the monsoon Weather.
The 2009 India floods affected various states of India in July 2009, killing at least 36 people in Orissa and 13 in Kerala. The most affected states were Karnataka, Orissa, Kerala, Gujarat and North-East Indian states.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is an Indian specialised force constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Operation Madad is the name of rescue operations conducted by Indian Navy in various occasions within India. The word "madad" in Hindi means "help".
The 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between months of April and December, with the peak from May to November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean.
This is a list of notable recorded floods that have occurred in India. Floods are the most common natural disaster in India. The heaviest southwest, the Brahmaputra, and other rivers to distend their banks, often flooding surrounding areas.
Deep Depression ARB 02 was a weak tropical cyclone which brought heavy rains and flooding to the Indian state of Gujarat in June 2015. It was the third tropical cyclone and second deep depression of the 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.
Following heavy rain, Gujarat state of India was affected by the flood in July 2015. The flood resulted in at least 72 deaths.
The 2015 South India floods resulted from heavy rainfall generated by the annual northeast monsoon in November–December 2015. They affected the Coromandel Coast region of the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. More than 500 people were killed and over 1.8 million people were displaced. With estimates of damages and losses ranging from nearly ₹200 billion (US$2 billion) to over ₹1 trillion (US$12 billion), the floods were the costliest to have occurred in 2015, and were among the costliest natural disasters of the year.
Following heavy rain in July and August 2017, the Indian state of West Bengal was affected by severe flooding. The floods were reported to have caused 50 deaths since 1 August and 8 deaths in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.
The Brahmaputra floods refers to a catastrophic flood event that occurred in 2012 along the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries, as well as in subsequent years.
On 16 August 2018, severe floods affected the south Indian state Kerala, due to unusually heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. It was the worst flood in Kerala in nearly a century. Over 483 people died, and about one million people were evacuated, mainly from Chengannur, Pandanad, Edanad, Aranmula, Kozhencherry, Ayiroor, Ranni, Pandalam, Kuttanad, Malappuram, Aluva, Chalakudy, Thrissur, Thiruvalla, Eraviperoor, Vallamkulam, North Paravur, Chendamangalam, Chellanam, Vypin Island, and Palakkad. All 14 districts of the state were placed on red alert. According to the Kerala government, one-sixth of the total population of Kerala was directly affected by the floods and related incidents. The Indian government declared it a Level 3 Calamity, or "calamity of a severe nature". It is the worst flood in Kerala after the great flood of '99 that took place in 1924.
The 2019 Indian floods were a series of floods that affected over thirteen states in late July and early August 2019, due to excessive rains. At least 200 people died and about a million people were displaced. Karnataka and Maharashtra were the most severely affected states. People died but many were rescued with the help of the Indian Navy.
On 1 August 2019, first week, due to heavy rainfall in the Monsoon season, severe flood affected the southern Indian State of Karnataka. As a security measure in the prevailing situation of heavy rains, India Meteorological Department issued Red alert to several regions of coastal and malnad regions of Karnataka state.
During the heavy rainfall over the monsoon period from 1 June to 18 August 2020, all 14 districts in Kerala were affected with 104 dead and 40 injured. Four districts in Kerala were flooded on 7 August 2020. Major reported incidents in relation to flooding include a landslide in Idukki district on 6 August, claiming 66 lives and an Air India plane crash that caused the death of 21 people. The 2020 flood in Kerala marked the third year in a row of severe monsoon flooding.
A series of floods took place across the Indian State of Maharashtra in 2021. As of 28 July 2021, around 251 people have died and over 100 are still missing due to floods and landslides. Thirteen districts have been affected in western Maharashtra.
Beginning in May 2022, deadly floods hit northeastern India and Bangladesh. Over 9 million people in both countries have been affected, and around 300 people have been killed.
From January to October 2022, excessive rainfall and widespread monsoon flooding occurred in the South Asian countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It has become the region's deadliest floods since 2020, with over 4,700 people dead.
Heavy rainfall during the 2024 monsoon season resulted in severe flooding and landslides across several regions of India. Rainfall caused significant flooding first in Assam State and later end of August also in Gujarat, India.
The 2024 Wayanad landslides were a series of landslides that occurred in Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Vellarimala villages in Meppadi panchayat, Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district, Kerala, India in the early hours of 30 July 2024. The landslides were caused by heavy rains that caused hillsides to collapse, destroying the areas below. The disaster was one of the deadliest in Kerala's history, with reports of over 420 fatalities, 397 injuries, and 118 people missing. Deforestation, seismic sensitivity, poor building construction, and global warming have been identified as possible causes for the landslides and fatalities.