Kerala rains: Heavy downpour lashes several parts of state; intensity to peak from 18 to 20 July

New Delhi: Heavy rains continued to lash parts of Kerala on Thursday and the Indian Met Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in the state. According to Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, the intensity of rains will peak between 18-20 July with some really heavy rains being observed in pockets. The remaining days are expected to record moderate to heavy amounts of monsoon rain. [caption id=“attachment_1011455” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rains in Kerala. File image. AFP.[/caption] The weather forecasting agency has also said that this spell may lead to a flood-like situation due to which red alert has already been issued by the state authorities. Places which are likely to observe flooding rains are Punnalur, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Wayanad. According to weather experts, the Southwest monsoon has been very disappointing so far as the month of June ended with a deficiency of 44 percent of rainfall. Besides, the deficiency of the rainfall between 1 June to 17 July in the region is a whopping 47 percent. The weather experts believe that Kerala now requires heavy rains to fulfill the deficient figures if any. “But with the forecast of some really good rains, we could see the rainfall deficiency in the state coming down to some extent.”