Kerala landslides hit Wayanad, cause devastation and loss.
Massive landslides that rocked many mountainous areas near Meppadi in Kerala's Wayanad district on Tuesday resulted in as many as 45 fatalities.
Tuesday morning, Wayanad was greeted with a deluge of rain when three consecutive, enormous landslides washed over most of Chooralmala village, smashing bridges and roads and leaving bodies floating in the rivers.
The firefighters, police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and fire brigade rescue personnel claimed they had no idea how much damage the landslides had caused.
Between two and six in the morning, three landslides occurred in the area, destroying a portion of Chooralmala town along with some shops and cars.
45 deaths have been acknowledged by the authorities, and hundreds more are thought to be trapped. According to locals, the landslides in Chooralmala village destroyed more than 200 homes, as reported by Onmanorama.
As the only bridge between the villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai, the collapse of the bridge across the Iruvazhinji River has complicated the rescue efforts in Mundakkai.
Additionally, authorities have verified that minor landslides are still occurring in the Wayanad district's upper hills. It is reported that runoff from the Meppadi landslides has caused the water level of the Chaliyar River to surpass the danger threshold.
The Indian Army has dispatched a team from Wellington, Coonoor to Wayanad to help in the rescue efforts and build a bridge to Mundakkai.
Over 300 mm of rain fell in the last 24 hours at some areas around the Western Ghats, according to data from the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, which tracks local weather trends.
Rahul Gandhi, the Centre Leader of the Opposition and a former Wayanad Lok Sabha MP, has promised the Kerala government that he will provide Wayanad with every support feasible. The Prime Minister has spoken with Union ministers about this matter.
Images on television showed rescue workers stumbling past boulders and fallen trees while muddy water flowed.
Kerala is prone to flooding and severe rain; in 2018, one of the worst floods claimed about 400 lives.
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