Kerala floods: How people are coping with disaster
The lives of people in Kerala have been thrown out of gear as it is the second time for many of them in relief camps.
Over a lakh people in around 1,000 camps are seeking refuge from floods across Kerala. The lives of these people have been thrown out of gear as it is the second time for many of them in relief camps. August 2018 saw the same fate as Kerala sees today.
32-year-old Sumathi lived with her family on the banks of the Iritty River. She lived with her mother, husband and four children. Her oldest one being 18 and youngest being a month and a half.
On Wednesday, water crept up into her house post midnight. She woke up her family and fled for help to the nearby St. Joseph's School in Kunnoth.
"We left our house late in the night. We don't have any identity card or ration card either," Sumathi said. Her mother Devu, who had tears rolling down her eyes while talking, said, "We don't even have a handful of rice for ourselves. It was all hard-earned."
The senior-most member in the relief camp is an 80-year-old. All of them were brought there by fishermen from Kannur harbour. They fishermen saved people with their own boats and brought them to the camps.
The fishermen rescued three pregnant women from Kootupuzha by putting them in a utensil and got them to safer grounds. "We have been here since 10 am on Thursday, evacuating the entire area. The locals helped us a lot by giving us food. We live in the relief camp nearby," Sunil said.
The people at relief camps still await help. As of now, the state government has given them straw mats, bed sheets, sarees for ladies, lungis for men, towels and medicines and has provided medical check-ups. They also get food thrice a day.
But the women in the camps said that they do not have blouses or skirts to wear the sarees, nor have they received undergarments yet.
Kannur is still under red alert as heavy rains and strong winds are likely to continue for the next 24 hours. Red alert has also been issued in Ernakulam, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad. The districts of Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur and Kasargode are under orange alert.