Kerala floods: Stranded child fights trauma, captures deluge on paper

In the drawing is also a corner where dozens of children are waving to catch the attention of helicopters flying overhead.

Follow Kerala floods LIVE UPDATES

“I am still hoarse from shouting to catch the attention of the helicopters. Nobody saw us. There were snakes and animals in the water,” says Sinikuttan, now in a camp along with 500 others as their village in Chalakudy region of Thrissur district remains under water.

“Sinikuttan has changed in the last few days since we were stranded on the roof of our neighbour’s house. He is now scared of water and has difficulty sleeping. The trauma is still alive in his mind,” says his mother Remya, who is bringing up Sinikuttan and his brother Manikuttan, 4, while their father earns a living in another town. “When we came to the relief camp, we were happy that we had escaped alive. Now, we realise that we have nothing to go back to in our homes. Everything is ruined.”

READ | A step-by-step guide on how you can donate to the Kerala CM’s relief fund

Rescue workers after a landslide in Palakkad last week. (PTI /File)

The floods have abated and people are now seeing the enormity of their losses and the Herculean task ahead in rebuilding their lives.

At the relief camp in Kundoor, there are at least three families who were busy preparing for weddings when the calamity struck.

“The day the floods hit was the day we carried purchases of gold and other items home for my daughter’s wedding scheduled for September 10. Everything is gone now. We have not even been able to tell the groom’s side about our situation,” says Rekha, a middle-aged woman at the Kundoor camp.

READ | Kerala can convert the damage caused by floods into an opportunity

Being one of the most inaccessible relief camps in Thrissur, the Kundoor camp signifies a problem that exists in flood relief work. While camps located near big towns like Thrissur receive a lot of relief material, the flow of such material has not started to reach the remote camps. Women at Kundoor received no supplies of sanitary pads in a first consignment of medical supplies sent to the camp on Sunday despite Thrissur officials burning the midnight oil to disperse medical supplies far and wide.

Read | After 6 days of deluge, help reaches marooned mental health home with 400 patients

“There is a problem with taking supplies to remote areas because the access routes are still cut off and there are few volunteers to do the work,” says Dr Raveendran, a professor in Thrissur involved with the relief work.

In areas where the relief supply is taking its time to reach, there are signs of growing disenchantment with local elected representatives.

Relief goods being loaded at Thrissur. (Express photo/Vignesh Krishnamoorthy)

“People have come from far-off places and waded through chest deep water to deliver supplies but our local councillor has not been seen since the floods. He is telling people that we should have left our homes and fled before the floods arrived. Let him come for votes we will show him,” says Balan, who has been staying at the camp.

READ | In one of the worst-hit areas in Kerala, people ignore pleas by rescue teams

As the waters have receded and life is slowly getting back on track, a drive from Thrissur to southern Kerala on Monday was filled with sights people cleaning homes and shops run over by the floodwaters.

READ | Kerala floods: Leading rescue, fishermen who braved Ockhi

Psychiatric experts believe special programmes will be needed to help address the trauma of loss of homes and property. “Indian society has the capability to bounce back quickly from the shock of such events because there is a big safety net of friends and family. We saw this during a recent cyclone and other events in Kerala,” says Dr K R Shaji, professor at Thrissur government medical college.