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More than 300,000 people have taken shelter in over 1,500 state-run relief camps, officials said. But authorities and local media outlets said they were being inundated with calls for assistance.
New Delhi: Thousands of stranded people were waiting for rescue Saturday and officials pleaded for more help as relentless monsoon floods battered Kerala, where more than 190 have died in a little over a week and much of the State is partially submerged.
Heavy rains began hitting parts of the State again Saturday morning, slowing attempts to deploy rescuers and get relief supplies to isolated areas, many of which have seen no help for days and can only be reached by boat or helicopter.
More than 300,000 people have taken shelter in over 1,500 state-run relief camps, officials said. But authorities and local media outlets said they were being inundated with calls for assistance.
"We are receiving multiple repetitive rescue requests," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office said in a tweet on Friday, asking those in need to provide their exact location and nearby landmarks so rescuers can find them.
Officials have called it the worst flooding in Kerala in a century, with rainfall in some areas well over double of a typical monsoon season.
Heavy rains since August 8 have triggered floods and landslides and caused homes and bridges to collapse across Kerala.
Officials estimate that more than 10,000 km of roads have been damaged, and one of the State's major airports, in the city of Kochi, has been closed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the State's top officials today, promising Rs 500 crore in aid. While the central government has dispatched multiple military units to Kerala, State officials are pleading for additional help.
"Please ask Modi to give us helicopters, give us helicopters. ... Please, please!" MLA Saji Cherian said.
Modi said that 38 helicopters had been deployed for search and rescue operations in the State, which has a population of more than 33 million.
"We all pray for the safety and well-being of the people of Kerala," he said in a tweet.
At least 194 people have died in flooding in Kerala since torrential rains began on August 8, and 36 more are missing, according to Kerala's disaster management office.
More than 1,000 people have died in seven States since the start of the monsoon season, including more than 300 in Kerala.
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