Heavy rains in Kerala, conditions favourable for monsoon onset: IMD
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Photo: Express
Kochi: Heavy rain on Tuesday morning flooded low-lying sections of Kerala's south and central regions. In Edappally, Kakkanad, Infopark, Sahodaran Ayyappan Road, Ernakulam South railway station, KSRTC bus stand, Palarivattom, Kaloor Aluva, Thrikkakara, Kalamassery, Tripunithura, Fort Kochi, Thoppumpady, Mattancherry, Mundamveli, and West Kochi areas, heavy rains resulted in water logging and traffic jams.
"It was a real cloud burst in Kalamassery. The rain gauge at Cusat recorded 98.5 mm rainfall between 9.10 am and 10.10 am," said Cusat Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research director S Abhilash.
The writer M. Leelavathi's home flooded in the morning. Several volumes were ruined and the water level inside the house rose to about two feet. The writer was moved to a different home by family members.
On Tuesday morning in Fort Kochi, a large tree was uprooted and fell upon a KSRTC bus. After the tree was removed, traffic in the area was restored by members of the police and fire forces. On Tuesday morning, five fishermen went out to sea, and had a miraculous escape when their boat capsized in the rough seas, Indian Express reported.
“Around 8.30 am, an inboard engine country craft which ventured into the sea for fishing was caught in high waves and capsized near Saude church between Fort Kochi and Kannamali. The fishermen who were initially caught in the waves managed to swim to safety. The fishermen were wearing life jackets and this has helped them escape the strong waves and swim to the shore,” said Wilfred Manuel, a driver at Fort Kochi.
Since Kerala has been experiencing intense rain for the previous few days and the westerly winds have gotten stronger, meteorologists say that the conditions are good for the start of the monsoon. In a few days, the IMD is anticipated to confirm the onset.
To establish the start of the monsoon, three requirements must be met. A depth of 600 hpa is expected for the westerly winds, outgoing long-range radiation below 200 wm-2, and two days in a row with more than 2.5 mm of rainfall reported by 60% of the 14 sites the IMD enlisted. Minicoy, Thiruvananthapuram, Amini, Punalur, Kollam, Allapuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Thalassery, Kannur, Kudulu, and Mangalore are the enlisted stations.