Extremely heavy rains in Kerala have so far led to the death of 22 people, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday. Vijayan was talking to reporters after taking stock of rescue and relief operations in an urgent meeting in Thiruvananthapuram. The recent floods come nearly a year after the state's worst floods in history, from which it is still recovering.
Kozhikode and Wayanad have been receiving the maximum rainfall, he said. A total of 22,165 people have been evacuated so far, with more than half of from Wayanad, and moved to 315 relief camps, he said. The state has witnessed 24 landslides so far, which has aggravated the situation, Vijayan added.
In Wayanad, seven dead bodies have been recovered following a landslide near a tea estate in the Meppady region, while several others are missing, dead - mostly comprising tea estate labourers. About 70 houses have been damaged in the area, according to local reports. Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are working on rescue efforts.