Photos show the destruction from flooding in the Indian state of Kerala, killing at least 350 people

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August 20, 2018 4:44 AM

Torrential rains have led to mass flooding in the Indian state of Kerala, killing at least 350 people and displacing more than 800,000 residents. On Sunday, heavy rains subsided leaving rescuers limited time to deliver urgent aid and extract people still trapped in their homes.

At least 350 people have been killed and more than 800,000 residents are displaced after torrential rains led to mass flooding in the Indian state of Kerala.

Record monsoon rains have brought the coastal southern state to a standstill since late May, triggering landslides and flooding that engulfed whole villages.

Thousands are feared still trapped by floodwaters following non-stop rainfall earlier this month.

On Sunday, rescuers worked quickly as heavy rains finally eased.

India's air force and Navy dropped food supplies and necessary aid to people still stranded.

People stranded on rooftops were airlifted or steered to shelter by boat.

India's Meteorological Department lowered the weather alert warning from red to orange in all districts.

But some zones are still submerged under water.

[Source: BBC]

Hundreds of government boats and rescuers have been deployed.

Some local fishermen offered their boats to assist in the rescue.

Fishing is a major industry in coastal cities in India, and India exported an all time high of $5.78 billion in seafood between 2016 and 2017.

[Source: Press Information Bureau Government of India]

Nearly 200 people have died since August 8.

At least 33 deaths were reported on Saturday.

[Source: Indian Express]

Officials are preparing for an outbreak of water-borne diseases.

"We’ve deployed adequate doctors and staff and provided all essential medicines in the relief camps,"

[Source: Reuters]

Damage to infrastructure is said to be at almost $3 billion.

[Source: Al Jazeera]

There are calls for an official declaration that the floods are a natural disaster.

[Source: NDTV]

And many have called the floods the worst the state has seen in a century.

Hundreds of thousands of families have been taken to relief camps.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveyed the damage from the air on Saturday.

He has pledged an immediate grant of $71 million to help the grief-stricken state.

[Source: BBC]

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