I usually don’t make posts like this, but I haven’t seen many posts about it so I wanted to tell you all that my home state of Kerala is currently experiencing the worst floods it’s ever had since 1924. Out of the 14 districts in Kerala, 12 have been affected by the floods.
Much of the rescue efforts have been done (and can only be done) via boats, as pictured below (x, x):
Many other people have had to swim to find boats and bring them to family members who have been stranded, and even with rescue attempts, as of writing this, about 357 people have died. Thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of people have also been stranded.
And the flooding is severe. Many dams have had to be opened due to fear that they would burst otherwise and cause more damaged. The people have been forced to evacuate and many have been left without any service or way to connect with their families – my relatives included, who we have been unable to contact for the past few days. Other friends have been able to contact family members who are housing neighbors, but they are quickly running out of food and the situation was expected to get worse over the weekend.
How can I help?
Amazon India has an entire donations page right here. You can donate products through Habitat for Humanity, World Vision, and GOONJ. This can be done by anyone, not just people who live in India!
If you don’t want to support via Amazon, the CM’s Disaster Relief fund has a donation page right here.
There has also been a Kerala Fund Relief on Facebook; the largest one from the US (note: usually FB takes a 2.6% fee, but as one of the posts explains on the page, that will not happen for this fundraiser).
This site contains more links on donating and the different ways to do so.
There are also multiple hospitals and organizations (at least in the UAE that I’m aware of) collecting clothes and other products for the people affected by the flood so please check out any local hospitals you have!
One example that I saw was that the Universal Hospital Wings of Wellness Association is collecting blankets, clothes, shoes, soaps, mugs, and more for the people of Kerala.
Any little bit helps, and if anyone has any more information, other donation sites, ways to contact family members, or anything else please share, and I ask that you just signal boost this post please!
