Page 48 - Keralite Magazine _2020

KERALITE  APRIL 20 20 35
2018 Kerala Floods
When God’s Own Country Drowned
On August 15, 2018, while the rest of India was
celebrating Independence Day with pomp and
glory, little did they realize what was in store for the
people of Kerala. The monsoon season that had
started out no di erent from those of the years
past, unleashed exceptionally relentless, torrential
rainfall on this coastal state. To make matters worse,
Prabs Chandrasekaran these downpours were near the reservoirs of Kerala
Vice President 2020 & that held water for irrigation and drinking purposes.
Charity Lead for Kerala Club 2018 The rainfall of August 2018 was 164% over the
normal for Kerala that month, and by the end of the
day on August 16, the reservoirs had reached
maximum capacity. Faced with the imminent and
serious threat of multiple dams collapsing, a
decision was made to open the shutters of all major
dams in the state. Thirty-five out of the 54 dams in
the state were opened for the first time in history.
The subsequent deluge, coupled with the still
unyielding rain, would result in the worst floods that
Kerala had seen in a century. Over 483 people lost
their lives and at least a million people had to be
evacuated. All 14 districts of the state were placed
on red alert. According to the Kerala government,
one-sixth of the total population of Kerala was
directly a ected by the floods and related
incidents. The Indian government declared the 2018
floods a Level 3 Calamity, or "calamity of a severe
nature." Never had the state witnessed a natural
calamity of this proportion since the Great Floods
of 99 (Malayalam year) that happened in 1924.
As the day dawned on August 16 in the U.S., we,
Kerala Club Executive Members watched with
concern, the media coverage of the catastrophe
that was unfolding in their native land. We saw
images of frightening destruction as the raging
floods ravaged Kerala, videos of homes destroyed,
people displaced, and desperate pleas for rescue as
water levels rose. We witnessed from afar, the worst
calamity that Kerala had seen in a hundred years.
And just as despair was at its peak, from this
immense tragedy arose something else; the human
will to persevere - stronger and more ferocious than
ever! Fishermen came by the hundreds to navigate
the raging waters; the bravehearts in uniform
worked tirelessly to reach the almost unreachable;
young men and women mobilized and led rescue
and relief e orts. The leaders - political and
administrative - worked side by side without regard
for their own comfort.
Fundraising E orts
As an organization that prides itself on serving the
community, we understood that this was a time of
need for our brothers and sisters back home. After
quick planning discussions, we decided to organize
a fundraiser to help support relief and rehabilitation
work.
Our GoFundMe (GFM) campaign (https://www.
gofundme.com/kerala-floods-relief-fundraiser) was
started on August 17, 2018, with the goal of raising
$25,000 towards flood relief e orts. Our friends,
donors, and patrons opened their hearts and
extended their arms to help and contribute to the
GFM campaign and we reached the target in four
days. With the help of local news media such as
CNN.com, Fox 2 News, Channel 4 News, and WXYZ,
our GFM page became one of the most accessed
pages during this flood crisis. People started
contributing from far and away. We decided to
increase our campaign goal to $50,000 and within
13 days of starting our campaign, collected
$45,000. Having reached our goal of $50,000, we
decided to formally close our GFM campaign on
October 31.
“Giving is not just about making a donation, it is
about making a difference.” - Kathy Calvin
In addition to donations to our GFM campaign, we
also received direct contributions from our partners
for $30,000. Kerala Club and its Executive
Committee members donated $10,000 towards this Moved by the su ering they were witnessing, the
e ort as well. In all, we raised over $90,000 to youth members of Kerala Club also got involved in
support the flood-a ected victims of Kerala. these e orts. Rahul Prabhakar, a sophomore at
“Respect people who find time for you in their busy University of Detroit Jesuit High School, collected
schedule, but love people who never looked at their $1000 through a fundraiser he organized in
schedule when you needed them.” - Unknown collaboration with his school authorities and fellow
students. Kaushik Nair, a senior at Novi High School,
Relief E orts
started a Facebook fundraiser that helped raise
Once we started our fundraiser, we quickly $1200. We would be remiss if we did not give a
special mention to Vishnu Kavituri and Sandhya
mobilized our contacts in Kerala to partner with
NGOs providing relief work. To date, we have Sree Athmakuri for contributing to our GFM.
completed all of the planned 41 projects. We made On a final note, Kerala Club would like to thank all
sure that the projects helped all flood-a ected those kindhearted people who placed their trust
districts of Kerala, specifically Kottayam, Palakkad, in us and supported our relief e orts. You were
Alappuzha, Idukki, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, heroes in a time of great need. You contributed
and Thrissur. towards making a di erence, and together we
We partnered with NGOs such as VISWAS, Rotary were able to help our people back home. You have
Club, Kozhikode Co-operative Hospital, Charakatthu restored our collective faith in humanity.
Foundation, Red Cross, Santhigiri College, ADORA, Thank you!
CMC Vellore, and Kerala State Warehousing
Corporation; local panchayats like Velliyamattom,
Kallara, Kumarakom, Vellathool and Kumali; and
churches like St. Thomas Orthodox Syrian Church.
Local political leaders like former MLA Mr. T. U.
Radhakrishnan, multiple municipality councilors
and panchayat presidents also helped us implement
these projects. We helped over 1000 families
through relief and rehabilitation e orts. We
distributed clothes, food, medicines, household utensils,
bedding, mixers, school supplies, oral rehydration
solution, flood kits, groceries, and cleaning
essentials. We also helped rebuild homes. None of
this would have been possible without support
from our partners back home.