Heavy rains lash Kerala; IMD sounds orange alert in eight districts

Thiruvananthapuram: As heavy rains continued to lash several parts of Kerala since Friday morning, disrupting normal life by causing waterlogging of roads and traffic jams, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) sounded an orange alert in three more southern districts of the state.

The IMD initially issued an orange alert for the day in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki and Thrissur districts. By afternoon, an orange alert was also sounded in Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Alappuzha districts of the state.

The weather department predicts very heavy to heavy rainfall till October 27 in the state due to cyclonic circulations over the Arabian Sea near the southern Kerala coast.

In many places, the skies were dark with clouds giving the impression that it was late evening, according to visuals on TV channels.

The IMD also issued a yellow alert in three other districts of the state.

An orange alert means very heavy rain (6 cm to 20 cm). A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 and 11 cm.

The IMD also predicted thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and gusty winds at one or two places in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki districts.

It also predicted thunderstorms with moderate rainfall and gusty winds in some parts of Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts of the state.