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A woman tries to evacuate water from her flooded house in Kerala on August 11, 2019. REUTERS / Sivaram V

The Indian authorities on Wednesday (August 14th) launched a new flood alert for part of the state of Kerala in southern India, while the monsoon has killed at least 209 people across the country.

The authorities have warned residents of Kerala of heavy rains, if not extremely abundant, over the next 24 to 48 hours in some areas of this popular tourist state. The record of the monsoon has risen to 95 dead last night, while 59 people are still missing, told the police of Kerala to AFP.

In the neighboring state of Karnataka, authorities report 48 deaths and 677,000 evacuees. In the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, local media reported 66 deaths and hundreds of thousands of people were rescued.

In these four states, the monsoon has resulted in the evacuation of more than 1.2 million people, most of whom have been accommodated in government relief camps. The Indian authorities have also deployed the army as back-up for rescue services to conduct search and rescue operations in the flooded areas.

The state of Kerala last year experienced its worst floods in a century, and is still recovering from the huge losses that had been recorded: 450 people had died, and countless motorways, bridges and railways had been destroyed .

(with AFP)