Brief let-up in rains in Kerala, death toll now 37

After being pounded by rains for the past few days, there was a brief let-up in the downpour today but the government remained on high alert with more rains forecast, even as the toll in the monsoon fury since August 8 climbed to 37.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who undertook an aerial survey of rain ravaged areas of Idukki and Wayanad, said Kerala was in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc and the calamity has caused "immeasurable misery and devastation."