Flood survivors in India take refuge in Christian college

The annual monsoon rains were already under way in Kerala when it was hit by torrential downpours beginning on 8th August.

The rains have decreased substantially and meteorologists are expecting light-to-moderate rain in the coming days.

Thousands of people have left Kerala’s relief camps over the past two days, heading home to check on damage and begin the long process of cleaning up.

“There was sludge and muck nearly up to my knee,” Abdullah Aliyar said.

The 65-year-old, who has been living with his family at a relief camp for more than a week, returned briefly to his nearby home on Monday to find it uninhabitable and without drinking water or electricity.

For now, the family of five will remain at Union Christian College, a large campus on high ground just outside Kochi.

Volunteers reach out to stranded people with food supplies in a flooded area in Chengannur in the southern state of Kerala, India, Sunday, Aug.19, 2018

It is one of more than 3,000 relief camps created amid the havoc of the floods.

Volunteers at the camp estimate that up to 10,000 people were jammed into the schools’ buildings.

“People are going home or to their relatives’ homes,” said K.H. Shahabas, a local elected official who has been working in the camp since it was created.

He said thousands of people poured into the college a few…