201

8
Movi
ePl
ot
‘
Everyonei saHer o'astheti
tl
es uggests,isahomaget ot hehundredsoft housandsofpeoplewhobanded
togetherinthefaceofex t
remer ainf
allandhelpedoneanot herduri
ngat imeofgr eatdarkness.I
texpectedtobe
anemot i
onalsurvi
valstor
y,astoryoftr
iumphagai ns
tallodds.Thestorystar
tsinavill
ageAruvikkulam,Wegett o
seetheirordi
naryliv
esandl at
erins harpcontrast
,how i
tget sover
turnedbecaus eoftheflood. Theabsolutehorr
or
andthehel ples
snes sonefeel
swhenwat ergoesupt ot
her oofoftheirhouseisdepictedwell
.

Whi l
ethefir
sthal
fwascompar at
ivel
ycalm, i
twasthecal
m befor
et hestor
mt hatwasthesecondhal
f.The
fishermenandtheirr
escueef
fort
s,thelocal
sandthehelptheyprovided,t
heheli
copterr
escue,al
mosteveryt
hing,
thatwerememberf r
om thet
imes ,hasfoundaplaceandthesemoment swerewell
executed.

Dir
ector :
JudeAnthanyJ
oseph
Cast :
Tovi
noThomas,
KunchackoBobban,
TanviRam,
Asi
fAl
i
,Lal
,Nar
ain,
Indr
ans
.
Rel
easeDat
e:05-MAY-2023

201
8Ker
alaFl
oods
On16Augus t2018,sever
efloodsaf f
ectedthes out
hI ndians t
ateKerala,
duetounus ual
lyhighrai
nfal
lduri
ngt he
monsoons eason.I
twast heworstfloodinKer alai
nnear lyacentury
. Over483peopledied,and15wentmi ss
ing.
Al
l14dis
tri
ctsofthes t
atewereplacedonr edalert.AccordingtotheKer al
agover
nment ,
one-si
xthofthetotal
popul
ati
onofKer al
ahadbeendi r
ectlyaff
ect
edbyt hefloodsandr elatedinci
dents
.ItistheworstfloodinKer al
a
af
tert
hegr eatfloodof99t hatt
ookpl acein1924.

35 outofthe54 damswi thi

nt hestatewer
eopened, forthefirstti
meinhis
tory.Al
lfiveoverflow gat
esofthe
IdukkiDam wer eopenedatt hes amet i
me. HeavyrainsinWay anadandIdukkicausedseverel
andsli
desandhad
l
eftthehill
ydistr
ict
sisol
ated.Thes i
tuati
onwasr egularl
ymoni toredbyt
heNat i
onalCri
si
sManagement
Commi t
tee,whichals
ocoor dinat
edt heres
cueandr eli
efoperati
onsasthedam gotopenedi thasdisr
upted
manyl i
veslivi
ngnearby.

Di
sas
terTypeandI
mpact
s
Fl
oodsar
etypi
cal
lycl
ass
ifiedasnat
uraldi
sas
ter
sandf
allundert
hecat
egor
yofhydr
ologi
caldi
sas
ter
s.

HeavyRai
nfal
l:
Thefloodsweretri
ggeredbyext
remelyheavyrai
nfal
lthatl
ast
edforanext
endedper
iod.
The
monsoonrai
nswerepart
icul
arl
yintens
eduri
ngt hatper
iod,
leadi
ngt owides
preadfloodi
ng.

Landsli
des:Theheavyrai
nstri
ggerednumer
ouslandsl
idesi
nhi
ll
yandmountai
nousregi
ons,
furtherexacer
bat
ing
thedisast
er.Lands
li
desblockedr
oadsanddi
sruptedcommunicati
on,
maki
ngrescueandrel
iefeff
ort
s
chal
lenging.

Di
srupt
ionofNormalLi
fe:Thefloodsdi
sruptednor
mall
if
eacros
sKeral
a.School
s,bus
ines
ses
,andgov
ernment
of
ficeswerecl
osed,
andtranspor
tati
onsyst
emsweresev
erel
yaff
ect
ed.

Envi
ronmentalConcer
ns :
Thefloodsledt
oconcernsaboutt
heenvi
ronment
ali
mpact
,incl
udi
ngwat
erpol
lut
ion,
damagetoecosyst
ems ,
andthespreadofwat
erbornedis
eases
.

Long-Term Recovery:Theaft
ermathoft
hefloodsinv
olvednotonl
yimmediater
eli
efeffor
tsbutalsol
ong-t
erm
recov
er yandrebuil
ding.Ithi
ghl
ight
edtheneedforsus
tai
nabledevel
opmentpr
acticesandbetterdi
sas
ter
preparednessmeas ures.

Educat
ionDisr
upt
ion:
School
sandeducat
ionali
nst
itut
ionswerecl
osedforanextendedper
iod,
aff
ect
ing
st
udents'
academi
cprogr
essandl
eadi
ngtot hel
ossofvaluabl
eins
truct
ional
time.

EconomicI
mpact
:Thefloodscausedsubst
antialeconomicl
oss
es,
aff
ecti
ngindust
riessuchasagri
cul
tur
e,
tour
ism,
andmanufact
uri
ng.Cropsweredest
royed,busi
ness
esweredis
rupt
ed,andl i
vel
ihoodswer
elost
.

201
8(Ev
ery
onei
saHer
o) 02of02 C.
A.T