IMD sounds red alert for Arunachal and two Kerala districts
Itanagar: With the IMD issuing a red alert for Arunachal Pradesh with a forecast of extremely heavy rainfall, Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday requested the people of the state to take all precautionary measures and avoid vulnerable and isolated locations.
The IMD has predicted thunderstorms with lightning and extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places of Papum Pare and West Kameng districts, and thunderstorms with lightning and very heavy rainfall in isolated places in East Kameng and Pakke-Kessang districts on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. It has also predicted thunderstorms with lightning and very heavy rainfall in isolated places in Kurung Kumey, Lower Subansiri, Shi-Yomi, West Siang, Lohit, Changlang, Tirap and Longding districts during the period. Thunderstorms with lightning and very heavy rainfall are also likely to occur in Pakke-Kessang, Papum Pare, Siang, Lohit, East Kameng, West Kameng, Kurung Kumey, West Siang and Lower Dibang Valley districts on May 29 and 30, the IMD said.
“@Indiametdept has issued a red alert for the next three days with a prediction of thunderstorms with lightning and extremely heavy rainfall in Papumpare, West Kameng, East Kameng, and Pakke-Kessang districts. I request everyone to take all precautionary measures and avoid vulnerable and isolated locations,” Khandu posted on X. In case of any emergency, please contact the district administration, the chief minister said in another social media post. Heavy rainfall may trigger landslides, leading to temporary road blockages, and flashfloods that may cause damage to kutcha roads and vulnerable infrastructures, the IMD has cautioned and advised people to avoid going to landslide-prone areas.
After a brief lull, incessant rains accompanied by gusty winds pounded several parts of Kerala on Tuesday, disrupting normal life.
South and central districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, and Ernakulam mainly bore the brunt of the continuous downpour, which caused waterlogging, damage to houses, trees to be uprooted and tiny water bodies to overflow cutting across towns and villages. With the rain getting intense, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) placed Kottayam and Ernakulam districts under red alert today.
An orange alert was sounded in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, and Idukki, while Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode were placed under a yellow alert, as per the latest IMD update. Experts said cloudburst could be the reason for the heavier rainfall that pounded various parts of the port city of Kochi.