Thiruvananthapuram: Hardly a month of monsoon showers and already 30 lives have been lost in Kerala in rain-related incidents. Alarmingly, the Met Department has predicted more intense showers after a brief lull.
Only 32 people died in rain-related incidents during the entire monsoon period last year.
But the figures collected by the Revenue Department from June 1 to July 11 put the toll so far this time to 30, across nine districts. While 16 others were injured, two went missing.
The above numbers include the four drowning deaths after a fishing country boat capsized at Muthalapozhi in Thiruvananthapuram early on Monday. No casualties have been reported so far from Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, and Wayanad districts.
June this time recorded the fewest rainfall in 47 years, as the state received only 26.66 centimeters of rainfall in the month following a delay of over eight days for the onset of the monsoon.
While it was predicted to receive the usual average rainfall of 66.23 cm, a deficit of nearly 60 percent was reported in the month. The rains, though, intensified from the start of July. The state received 34.59 cm of rainfall in just 10 days. It rained more in just one week of July than the entire June.
The state received 61.51 cm of rainfall from June to July 11, a deficit of 31%. The districts of Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta received rains as normal. There is not much rainfall deficit in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts as well.
