Publication

Abstract : Rain in the state of Kerala, India, is not a new phenomenon. Monsoons in Kerala, India, bring a good amount of rain every year and are a foregone conclusion. But rain creating multi-hazardous events is a rare phenomenon in Kerala. This research paper reflects upon the events that unfolded during monsoon of 2018 in the state of Kerala, leading to a death toll of more than 400. The most visible factor is the torrential rainfall, a 200% rainfall departure during the month of August 2018 compared to the last ten years of rainfall. This triggering factor has initiated spatially distributed flood and landslide events in the entire state of Kerala. On detailed analysis, we could understand the interactions of several other parameters leading to the multi-hazards. This work unveils the events that generated the multi-hazard scenario and the underlying possible parameters that lead to this feature. This rain, termed as a single event, caused simultaneous and multi-hazardous events. Detailed chronological events have been provided indicating the amount of rain and the consequence of the multi-hazard event that have unfolded subsequently. The cause of flood cannot be pointed to one single factor, but to multiple factors like (i) rain, (ii) urbanization, (iii) terrain of the land, (iv) water management of spatially distributed dams and so on. This analysis clearly indicates that a country like India will require integrated solutions for managing multiple hazards, developing solutions to anticipate impacts due to climate change, empowering communities to become disaster resilient, detailed multi-hazard mapping and zoning, developing integrated models which need rapid application across all hazard spectrum to make the communities disaster resilience.