Tens of thousands of people in the Indian tourist state of Kerala were stranded on Thursday (August 16) as waters rose amid extensive flooding and one of the state's main airports remained closed.
The state's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said on Thursday (August 16) that the death toll has risen to 256 people since the beginning of the monsoon season in India. Vijayan also said on Twitter that 25 boats with members of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were sent to Pathanamthitta, central Kerala, and all the boats, including fishing boats, would be used to expedite rescue operations in flooded areas.
Crops on 1,031 hectares (2547.66 acres) have been damaged and 31,000 people have been forced to take shelter in rescue camps, according to the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority's (KSDMA) control room in the state capital.
Kerala state authorities have taken the unprecedented step of releasing water from 35 dangerously full dams, sending a surge into its main river to prevent potentially disastrous breaches.
Torrential rains and landslides during India's June-September monsoon season have ravaged farmlands and prompted massive evacuation efforts in Kerala state, which has 44 rivers and witnessed its worst floods in 1924 following torrential rains.