Kerala Floods 2018

The Kerala Floods 2018 were the worst in more than a hundred years. At least 15 people are still missing, and more than 483 people have been killed. People in Chengannur, Pandanad, and Edanad had to leave their homes. People in Aranmula, Kozhencherry, Ranni, and Pandalam were also affected, as were people in Thrissur, Chalakudy, Aluva, Thiruvalla, Eraviperoor, and Vallamkulam. The state’s fourteen districts have all been given notice. According to the state administration, one-sixth of Kerala’s population has been directly impacted by floods or similar disasters. At this level, “a substantial sort of disaster” is what the government of India calls the earthquake’s devastation. Since the devastating storm of 1924, Kerala has been battered by the greatest flooding in its history.

Devastating 2018 Kerala Floods:

Because of the Kerala Floods, thirty-five out of the fifty-four dams in the Kerala state were opened for the first time. For the first time in 26 years, Kerala opened all five of the Idukki Dam’s overflow gates simultaneously. The overflow gates at the Malampuzha Dam were opened for the first time. Landslides triggered by the recent heavy rain have blocked off Idukki and Wayanad from the rest of Kerala. The National Crisis Management of Kerala maintained an eye on operations. It monitored rescue operations and recovery operations as the dam was opened and many people’s lives were turned upside down.

Research into the high-frequency tropical airwaves that originate in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean or the tropical West Pacific and travel to Africa’s east coast has yielded many results. The usual phase speed of these waves is close to 12 metres per second. These waves originate in the Indian Ocean or the tropics of the West Pacific around the equator. They go to the coast (east) of Africa when it rains a lot in Kerala. When systems persist close to the equator, the wind and rain become much greater. Because of the waves, there was enough water in the air to initiate convection. South India saw an exceptional amount of rain due to the mid-tropospheric convection catching the waves of high frequency.

Where Did The Recent Flash Kerala Floods Come From?

At the worst possible time, Uttarakhand and Kerala were hit by yet another disaster. In some places, heavy rain can cause a chain reaction of risks. Because of the disaster, many people died, and floods and landslides destroyed their homes and businesses. Low pressure in the east-central part of the Arabian Sea, near the Lakshadweep, caused the flash Kerala Floods, which moved as a low-pressure system toward the coast and brought rain.

The torrential rains that hit Kerala on 16 October caused the water levels in many rivers that flow west to rise quickly.

The Meteorological Department of India predicted it would rain heavily between October 12 and 16. Both days, the CWC sent out flood alerts. All the state’s rivers that flow west has been told to be careful. The Water Information Management System was used by the State Disaster Management Authority of Kerala, the State Electricity Board of Kerala, and the State Water Resources Department to send hourly information about water levels and rainfall to help monitor floods. At the divisional level, the WRD in Kerala also gets a daily flood magazine and day-to-day flood situation information.

There are five CWC flood forecasting stations in Kerala alone. Idukki dam and Malankara on the Pampa River in Kerala had forecasted for the 16th and 17th of October. The IMD had warned that there could be flash flooding in the area. The CWC spread this information through social media.

Before you can get ready for these terrible weather events, you need to know why we can’t always predict them in advance.

There are a lot of towns and cities in Kerala that are in the Western Ghats. Most rivers that flow through the state empty into the Arabian Sea. These rivers get their water from places where there aren’t many people. Due to the river’s steep slope, it is hard to use a base station upstream to make a general statistical correlation (level) prediction for a specific station. Because rivers are usually clear and rise quickly, it’s hard to tell how high they will get.

For the IMD to simulate floods, it needs several stations where real rain falls in real-time. Flood forecasts in the past have been limited by geography and the short amount of time water needs to build up. But Kerala’s mathematical models haven’t been able to predict floods well because they don’t have enough real-time rainfall data from enough places.

Because of this, it’s hard to know how likely flooding is ahead of time. Floods might be easier to predict if rain data from weather radar is used. Kerala has a system of small reservoirs that can only hold water for short periods, and getting reservoirs to work together is a very big problem.

The Effects Of The 2018 Kerala Floods:

According to the Economic Times, 483 individuals were killed, and 140 are still unaccounted for. On the other side, 33,000 individuals were rescued. Kerala’s State Disaster Management Authority has declared rescue operations and recovery operations due to the devastating floods. When water treatment facilities had to cease pumping water, there wasn’t enough clean water in the northern portions of the state. More than 3,274 temporary shelters are available to those affected by flooding around the nation. These refugee camps have taken in 1,247,496 persons in search of protection. Many neighbourhoods and hundreds of houses have been damaged or destroyed due to the recent rainy weather patterns. When calamities struck recently, the money saved for the Onam holiday was utilised to support those affected.

Conclusion

The runway of Cochin International Airport, India’s fourth busiest international airport and the busiest in Kerala, was closed on August 12 due to flooding. Except for the Sainik School in Kerala, all schools in Kerala have been shuttered as a precautionary measure. On August 16, the Metro of Kochi was closed for a brief while, and free rides were provided to those affected by the Kerala Floods. Train service was halted in Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, and Palakkad on the railway in the south due to heavy rain and increasing water levels.