Kerala: Over 1,000 evacuated to camps as Cyclone Maha rages through Arabian Sea

Coastal villages like Chellanam and Edavanakkad have reported coastal erosion with the seawater seeping into homes. (Express photo: Nithin RK)

The cyclone could cause major damage to thatched huts along the coasts and power and communication lines. Damage to embankments, kutcha roads and coastal crops is also predicted.

Alongside Maha, the Kyarr cyclonic storm is also still brewing over west-central Arabian Sea although it is likely to weaken into a deep depression during the next 12 hours and move southwestwards.

The IMD had signalled code orange rain alert, signalling ‘isolated heavy to very heavy’ rainfall, on Thursday in five districts of Kerala. The Lakshwadeep island was issued code red alert, the highest warning. True to the IMD warning, the city of Kochi and other regions in the state received widespread rainfall with several areas of the city reporting heavy waterlogging. The Kayamkulam and Alappuzha stations of the IMD reported the highest daily rainfall in the state on Thursday with 103.0 mm and 103.3 mm respectively. Coastal villages like Chellanam and Edavanakkad have reported coastal erosion with the seawater seeping into homes.

This has been an extremely rainy October for the state compared to previous years. In October alone, Kerala has recorded excess rainfall with a 55% departure from normal rainfall. Between October 1 and 31, the state got 470 mm rainfall against a ‘normal’ of 303.4 mm. Six districts of the state reported ‘large excess’ rainfall.