Heavy rains batter Kerala overnight, cause widespread havoc and power outages

Kerala battered by heavy rains and strong winds, causing flooding, power outages, and evacuations, with ongoing severe weather warnings.

Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds battered Kerala overnight and into early Friday (May 30, 2025), inundating residential areas, damaging homes and forcing at least 1,200 citizens to seek refuge in government-run relief camps.  

The heavy weather uprooted trees and downed power lines. The Fire and Rescue Services department and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) scrambled to clear fallen trees and restore power to an estimated 60 lakh households across the State. Nevertheless, large swathes of the State, including much of Thiruvananthapuram district, remained without power.

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Power Minister K. Krishnankutty told reporters that public resistance to pre-monsoon pruning off overhanging branches and precariously leaning trees jeopardised the safety of overhead powerlines and transformers. He said the Chief Secretary had instructed the District Collectors to invoke the Disaster Management Act 2005 provisions to overcome such resistance. 

He said the heavy rains and falling tree branches damaged 2,500 high-tension and 10,000 low-tension power lines across the State and that scores of transformers malfunctioned.

The KSEB has sustained a loss of ₹121 crore by a conservative preliminary estimate. He said KSEB has deployed more engineers and line workers to restore power distribution. He said using underground cables to transmit electricity was the long-term solution to ensure uninterrupted power during inclement weather. 

However, he said the KSEB’s goal remained elusive, given the high costs involved and the public utility’s inability to raise power charges. Mr Krishnankutty noted the water level in 16 major and 15 small hydroelectric power dams remained within the safety threshold.