By Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
In addition to the lives lost, the number of people forced from their homes stands in the hundreds of thousands after torrential monsoon rain struck western and southern India.
Flooding and mudslides have killed 147 people in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, Reuters reported on Sunday.
Around 57 of those deaths occurred in Kerala, where more than 165,000 people have been evacuated.
"Several houses are still covered under 10-12 feet [3 to 3.6 meters] of deep mud. This is hampering rescue work," the state's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told Reuters.
Flooding forced officials to close the Cochin International Airport in Kerala on Friday morning. After water levels receded, flight operations resumed at midday Sunday.
AP Photo
A view of the flooded Cauvery river, downstream of Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir near Srirangapatna in Mandya district, Karnataka state, India, on Sunday, Aug.11, 2019. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Commuters move through a flooded road near Srirangapatna in Mandya district, Karnataka state, India, on Sunday, Aug.11, 2019. (AP Photo)
Rahul S. Ravi/All India Congress Committee via AP
This photograph provided by the All India Congress Committee, shows a landslide site in Kavalappara, Malappuram district, Kerala, during a visit by Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019.
AP Photo/Ajit Solanki
Indian men push a small van through a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Ahmadabad, India, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019. India's monsoon rain runs from June through September.
AP Photo/Ajit Solanki
A car drives past a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Ahmadabad, India, on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019. India's monsoon rain runs from June through September.
The airport recorded nearly 410 mm (16 inches) of rain in five days, ending on Sunday morning. That included the 100 mm (4 inches) that poured down from Saturday to Sunday morning.
Similar rainfall totals from Saturday to Sunday morning were recorded in other coastal communities of Kerala and Karnataka.
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Nearly 227,000 people are seeking shelter from the flooding in Karnataka, where 60 people have been killed. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told Reuters that the flooding was the worst the state had endured in 45 years.
Flooding in the state has submerged several structures at Hampi, a World Heritage Site.
The Indian Navy used helicopters and boats to reach those trapped in their homes in Karnataka later last week.
Rescuers help people to cross a flooded area after a landslide caused by torrential monsoon rains in Meppadi in Wayanad district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India, on August 9, 2019. (REUTERS/Stringer)
The flooding situation is improving in Maharashtra, according to Reuters. However, 30 people are dead and officials do not anticipate rail services to be restored for two weeks.
India's western coast finally welcomed a reduction in the onslaught of heavy rain on Sunday--a trend that is expected to continue through Monday.
However, there can still be showers, thunderstorms and localized downpours that disrupt cleanup operations and slow flood waters from receding.
Meanwhile, a new monsoon low is taking shape over the northern Bay of Bengal and will threaten more lives and property with flooding across a large swath of India this week.
The storm is expected to spread heavy rain from western Myanmar, Bangladesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand on Monday to around Madhya Pradesh later this week. There can be an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 300 mm (12 inches) and devastating flooding in the hardest-hit areas.
As the storm tracks westward, downpours can ramp back up across India's western coast around the middle and second half of the week. However, the heaviest rain may target the corridor from Panaji and Mumbai rather than near Kochi.
Download the free AccuWeather app to stay alert to flood-related warnings.
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