The weatherman has warned of heavy rains in Kerala, which just got $250 million World Bank aid to recover from last year's floods

• India Meteorological Department has issued high alerts for six of its districts including Idukki, Malappuram, and Wayanad.
  
• A red alert will be in effect in Idukki and Malappuram districts on 18 July.
  
• Whereas, IMD predicted heavy rainfall for Kannur and Wayanad along with Idukki and Malappuram on 19 July.
  

A second spell of monsoon is likely to bring extremely heavy rains in the coming days in Kerala. India Meteorological Department has issued high alerts for six of its districts including Idukki, Malappuram, and Wayanad.

A red alert will be in effect in Idukki and Malappuram districts on 18 July. Whereas, IMD predicted heavy rainfall for Kannur and Wayanad along with Idukki and Malappuram on 19 July. Apart from this, Thrissur, Emakulam, Idukki and Malappuram are likely to receive heavy rainfall on 20 July.

“Since there are possibilities of flooding and landslides, people have been asked to be extremely cautious and take necessary precautions to keep themselves safe,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post.

Kerala is still reeling from last year’s massive floods, which was its worst ever in a 100 years. It just received its first tranche of $250 million of the $500 million fund by World Bank for the Resilient Kerala Programme (RKP). The fund is to help the flood-affected state brace against natural disasters.

The worst ever flood in a century

God’s own country, Kerala is called, has been on the receiving end of the nature.

Last year in August, when Kerala was still rejoicing the end of a three year drought, heavy rains lashed the state. Soon, they ballooned into floods and landslides that killed more than five hundred, and millions were displaced.

It took nearly a month for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to carry out rescue operations and restore normalcy. The state authorities estimated that the floods has caused a loss of over ₹19,500 crore — 15% of the state’s GDP estimate for 2018-19.

With only 14.52% of its area reported as flood prone, Kerala wasn’t prepared for the disaster. And the worst hit in the disaster were the laborers, claimed a risk management agency Care Ratings. People lost as much as ₹4,000 crore wages in August alone. During the floods, more than a million people were stranded at relief camps that foot a bill of ₹300 crore a month.

The worst hit areas were Idukki, Wayanad, Mallapuram, Kozhikode and Palakkad, each of which received much more rainfall than normal.