India flood death toll shoots up to 324

The century's worst rains and flood left 324 people dead in the last nine days with 106 being killed yesterday in India's southern state of Kerala, the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today.

"Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. 80 dams opened, 324 lives lost and 223139 people are in about 1500+ relief camps," read a tweet from the Chief Minister's Office.

Heavy rains battered Kerala claiming 106 lives on a single day yesterday taking the death toll to 324 as the century's worst deluge plunged the southern coastal state into more misery today with hospitals facing shortage of oxygen and fuel stations running dry, officials said.

The deluge claimed 324 lives since August 8 and dealt a blody blow to the scenic state, wrecking its tourism industry, destroying standing crops across thousands of hectares and inflicting huge damage to its infrastructure, reports our New Delhi correspondent. 

Personnel of the three defence services, besides the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continued with the gigantic task of evacuating marooned people stranded on rooftops and 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.

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." 

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the flood situation in the state continued to be "grave" with over 2.23 lakh people from more than 50,000 families sheltered in relief camps.

Though there was some let up in rains at a few places, four districts of Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur remained in the throes of the monsoon fury.

Officials said many private hospitals in Ernakulam district are running out of oxygen, forcing the authorities to shift patients to nearby facilities. Many had to be evacuated after flood water entered hospitals.

People in relief shelters also complained about dearth of food and drinking water.

Quite a few petrol pumps, even in places like the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, which has escaped the monsoon fury to some extent, have run dry.

Local fishermen have also joined in the rescue mission with their boats and could be seen evacuating those marooned in places like Aluva, Kalady, Perumbavoor, Muvattupuzha and Chalakudy.

Several roads in the hill district of Idukki, including in picturesque Munnar, have been badly damaged from a string of landslides. Wayanad, among the worst-hit by the floods, is cut off from the rest of Kerala.

Several trains were either cancelled or rescheduled, sources said. Services on the Kochi Metro are, however, unaffected.

The weatherman has forecast heavy rain and gusty winds in various parts of the state.