IMD warns of heavy rain in Wayanad

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday issued an ‘orange’ alert, warning of heavy rainfall in parts of Kerala’s ecologically-fragile Wayanad district, where landslides triggered by heavy rain killed over 230 people on July 30.

The weather department predicted heavy rainfall (7 cm to 11 cm in 24 hours) to very heavy rainfall (12 cm to 20 cm in 24 hours) in one or two places in Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Kannur on Wednesday, and in Kozhikode and Wayanad on Thursday.

A ‘red’ alert was issued for Lakshadweep, warning of extremely heavy rainfall (more than 20 cm in 24 hours) at isolated places on Wednesday. A global team of scientists said on Wednesday that the deadly landslides in Wayanad were triggered by an intense burst of rainfall, made 10 per cent heavier by climate change.

The team, consisting of 24 researchers from India, Sweden, the US, and the UK, said that over 140 mm of rainfall fell in a single day on soils already saturated by two months of monsoon precipitation, triggering catastrophic landslides and floods. Other researchers have also linked the Wayanad landslides to a combination of factors, including forest cover loss, mining in fragile terrain, and prolonged monsoon rains followed by heavy precipitation.