Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: Heavy rains in Kerala claimed further 26 lives as it continued to batter Kerala on Thursday as floods and landslides ravaged the whole region. The disaster is being described as the worst one ever experienced by the coastal state in living memory. The rains that began on August 8 have till now killed at least 97 people with over 1.67 lakh being shifted to 1,165 relief camps across the state.

As of now, most of Kerala is flooded with reports of situation worsening in several places which also includes Kochi, where backwaters threaten to breach their bank. The main airport of Kerala, Kochi airport still remains under water and has now been closed till August 26. As of now, trains too from the state have been suspended and Kochi Metro operations too were affected by the rains.

According to the Meteorological Department of the state, rains were expected to continue in the same way until Saturday. A statewide “red alert” is in place which was expected to end by Thursday. The alert is the highest weather warning. PM Narendra Modi is slated to visit Kerala on Friday evening and make an aerial survey of those affected areas the next day.

Cheif Minister of Kerala, Vijayan had sent an SOS to Modi and termed the floods as the worst ever experienced in the state. According to the officials, the death toll was expected to rise further as rescuers were still struggling to reach far-flung locations where several hundreds of people are said to be trapped on terraces of homes, atop tall buildings etc,.

The floods in Kerala are estimated to have damaged properties and crops worth more than 8,000 crores amid a fresh red alert was issued in 13 of the 14 districts in the state. All nine flood-monitoring stations of the Central Water Commission have notified the flood situation as “extreme”. NGOs have joined and are working with 52 teams of Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy and NDRF in relief and rescue operations in flood-ravaged Kerala but on Thursday it became evident that the scale of the disaster was much greater than the ongoing efforts.

The district of Pathanamthitta continued to remain the worst-affected with several thousands of people stranded at their homes in Ranni, Kozhencherry and Aranmula towns. Water levels rose in several parts of Pathanamthitta, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts to as high as 20 feet which turned streets into deep lakes.

On Thursday, CM Pinarayi Vijayan spoke to Prime Minister Modi and other leaders at the center to request more help. Incidents of landslides were reported in Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Idukki and Malappuram districts. Muannar still remained submerged in rainy waters for the third consecutive day while the Sabarimala shrine was reportedly cut off.

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