Rains savage Kerala, death toll mounts to 173

As a murderous monsoon savaged Kerala claiming 106 lives on a single day yesterday, the state plunged deeper into misery today with hospitals facing shortage of oxygen and fuel stations running dry, officials said.

The deadliest deluge in close to a century has claimed 173 lives since August 8, and dealt a body blow to the scenic state, wrecking its tourism industry, destroying standing crops in thousands of hectares and inflicting huge damage to infrastructure.

Personnel of the three services, besides the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) resumed the gigantic task of evacuating people stranded on rooftops, highlands where hills came crashing down blocking roads and cutting them off the rest of the world, and those marooned in villages that have turned into islands.

Hundreds of people, including women, children and the elderly trapped in places inaccessible by boats were winched up by defence helicopters and shifted to safety.

TV channels telecast disturbing visuals of a woman in labour being pulled up with the help of a rope dropped down from a Navy chopper, swinging violently in the air.

The woman, whose amniotic sac was ruptured, was shifted to a Navy hospital where she gave birth to a baby boy. Both the mother and the child are doing fine, officials said.

Desperate non-resident Keralites from Australia, the US and the UK were making fervent pleas to authorities through television channels seeking help for their dear ones.

Soumya from Australia said her parents and their relatives were stranded in Aluva for the past two days. Another said an elderly relative Mary Varghese was badly in need of an oxygen cylinder and her condition was worsening.

In a WhatsApp video, a stranded woman with her 6- year-old child was seen pleading for help. "We have no food or water. Please help us."