Kerala with a geographical terrain of both hills and plains, was battered by torrential rain which triggered ravaging floods and landslides in 2018. This was one of the worst disaster faced by the state in its history. The disaster highlighted the weakening of the bond which connected the inhabitants to its nature. As per the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, the disaster resulted in 433 fatalities (268 men, 98 women and 67 children).
The response of the community in the state was overwhelming. Organizations such as Kudumshree highlighted how women can be effective responders to disasters. The search and rescue activities carried out by fishermen community helped to save the lives of many. The people who belonged to Kerala, but were not in the country during the time of disaster, used technology to send coordinates of the trapped survivors to search and rescue personnel through crowd sourcing. The community demonstrated their tenacity, grit and, unity in spirit to tide over a common tragedy that engulfed them.
While we cannot prevent natural phenomena, we can definitely limit their repercussions on the society. The challenge in facing these natural hazards is to find a way to live with these phenomena rather than die from them and enhance resilience of the community in facing such recurrent disasters in the future. It is hoped that the publication of this document will stimulate improved data collection and research which can enable the gaps identified in the management of the disasters to be addressed in future. The document draws on lessons learnt from the flood disaster of 2018 in Kerala, reflecting a common concern in building disaster resilient communities and reducing human, social, economic and environmental losses due to such disasters.
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