IMD sounds red alert in five districts of Kerala, forecasts extremely heavy rainfall
Thiruvananthapuram, May 22: With heavy rains continuing to lash several parts of Kerala, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday placed five districts of the state on red alert, predicting extremely heavy rainfall in those regions.
According to the latest update from the weather agency, the red alert was sounded in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki.
Though Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam were earlier placed under an orange alert, the IMD later upgraded the warning to a red alert, predicting extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places there.
Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Wayanad continue to be on orange alert, while Kannur and Kasaragod remain on yellow alert, the IMD said.
High waves in the range of 0.4 to 3.3 metres and sea incursions are forecast along the coast of Kerala from Vizhinjam in the south to Kasaragod in the north until Thursday night, authorities added.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the incessant heavy rains, a state control room has been opened in the Health Department Directorate here as part of efforts to strengthen epidemic prevention activities, Health Minister Veena George said.
A state-level rapid response team had already been formed by the department for epidemic prevention, she said in a statement.
The control room has been launched with the objective of coordinating various activities under the Health Department and clearing the doubts of health workers and the general public, the minister added.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
