Flooding toll rises in India as scores seek shelter
CHENGANNUR, India — About 800,000 people have been displaced and more than 350 have died in the worst flooding in a century in southern India’s Kerala state, officials said Sunday, as rescuers searched for people stranded in the worst-affected areas.
The downpours that started Aug. 8 have caused floods and landslides and caused homes and bridges to collapse across Kerala, a picturesque state known for its quiet tropical backwaters and beautiful beaches.
Thousands of rescuers were continuing efforts to reach out to stranded people and get relief supplies to isolated areas by using hundreds of boats and nearly two dozen helicopters, said P.H. Kurian, a top disaster management official in Kerala.