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AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
World News

Flood survivors in India take refuge in Christian college

by Tola Mbakwe

The annual monsoon rains were already under way in Kerala when it was hit by torrential downpours beginning on 8th August.

The rains have decreased substantially and meteorologists are expecting light-to-moderate rain in the coming days.

Thousands of people have left Kerala's relief camps over the past two days, heading home to check on damage and begin the long process of cleaning up.

"There was sludge and muck nearly up to my knee," Abdullah Aliyar said.

The 65-year-old, who has been living with his family at a relief camp for more than a week, returned briefly to his nearby home on Monday to find it uninhabitable and without drinking water or electricity.

For now, the family of five will remain at Union Christian College, a large campus on high ground just outside Kochi.

AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Volunteers reach out to stranded people with food supplies in a flooded area in Chengannur in the southern state of Kerala, India, Sunday, Aug.19, 2018

It is one of more than 3,000 relief camps created amid the havoc of the floods.

Volunteers at the camp estimate that up to 10,000 people were jammed into the schools' buildings.

"People are going home or to their relatives' homes," said K.H. Shahabas, a local elected official who has been working in the camp since it was created.

He said thousands of people poured into the college a few days after the floods began, when other low-lying relief camps were inundated.

AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi
An Indian air-force helicopter on rescue mission flies through a flooded area in Chengannur in the southern state of Kerala, India, Sunday, Aug.19, 2018

Meanwhile, Christian Aid has launched an emergency appeal for Kerala's poorest and most vulnerable villages.

Households will receive assistance with safe drinking water, sanitation supplies, hygiene essentials such as soap and shelter materials including tarpaulin, rope and blankets.

Christian Aid's emergency programme officer Shivani Rana, who is in Kerala, said for people that have lost everything it will be a tough task rebuilding their livelihoods.

"Many people are currently sheltering in camps and one major worry is how they're going to recover their lives when they try to go home. For some families, everything they had has been washed away or ruined," she said.

"The rains have caused flooding and also landslides - and we still don't know how bad the damage is because many areas remain impossible to reach."

AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi
A volunteer throws a pack of bread towards a family stranded in a flooded area in Chengannur in the southern state of Kerala, India, Sunday, Aug.19, 2018.

Christian Aid's relief work in Kerala has been kick-started with a £77,000 grant from the UK government-backed Start Fund, which releases money quickly after disasters to enable rapid responses.

The charity has also released some of its own funds and hopes to scale up its emergency response, working through its local partners in the region.

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