Cleanup begins as rains subside in India

ALAPPUZHA, INDIA— Thousands of people in flood-ravaged south India waded Monday through muck and mud to begin the immense task of cleaning their homes and businesses.

Rains have been diminishing in parts of Kerala state, where floods and landslides have killed more than 200 people in less than two weeks and about 800,000 more have been forced into thousands of relief camps.

Abdul Samad, a 56-year-old fish seller, scooped water and garbage from his devastated concrete home in the town of Pandalam.

“When the floodwaters came, we were not anticipating a calamity of this kind,” he said. “But minute by minute the water level began to rise.”

Torrential rains began Aug. 8 in Kerala in the midst of the annual monsoon season, eventually leaving much of the state partially submerged.

The Indian military also opened an airbase Monday to commercial flights to help bring in relief goods and fly out residents.

Thousands of people are taking shelter in small camps in the coastal town of Alappuzha. Many are in schools, but at least one is on the grounds of a mosque where Christians, Hindus and Muslims have all found food and a place to sleep.

“The water came almost up to my head,” said Ullas, a 48-yearold man who uses only one name, who fled his village for the safety of the town.

Officials say it is the worst flooding in Kerala in a century, with rainfall in some areas well over double that of a typical monsoon season.

Officials have put initial damage estimates near $3 billion.