Kerala receives moderate rainfall; IMD sounds orange alert in 5 districts

Various districts in Kerala received moderate rains on Wednesday, even as the weather office forecast very heavy rainfall in five districts of the state in the coming hours. As per the latest update of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam were placed under an orange alert, predicting "very heavy rains" in these districts today. The red alert issued in Ernakulam and Kottayam districts on Tuesday was withdrawn. At the same time, Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, and Thrissur districts were placed under yellow alert, the IMD added. Moderate rainfall is expected at one or two places in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, and light rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places in Palakkad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts in the coming hours, it said. Meanwhile, incidents of trees being uprooted and houses damaged were reported in various parts of the .