KOCHI: As floodwaters drained and rains let off across the state on Monday, lakhs of people confined to relief camps or rendered homeless struggled to bring back a semblance of normalcy to their lives. Those returning to what was left of their homes faced an uphill task of first cleaning the surroundings even as the state government sent out an SOS for more supplies of disinfectants and bleaching powder. As for those who lost their homes, the immediate priority was to ensure that they didn’t fall prey to waterborne infections, especially leptospirosis and those related to the respiratory tract.A Kochi family wrote ‘THANKS’ on their rooftop after a Navy helicopter airlifted two women from the same place three days ago.The central government on Monday classified the floods as a "calamity of severe nature”. In a statement submitted to the Kerala high court, the Centre, citing the national disaster management plan, said the floods were a L3-level disaster, which is the most-severe and corresponds to a nearly catastrophic situation or a very large-scale disaster that overwhelms state and district authorities.Meanwhile, rescue operations, on their last leg, continued in some isolated pockets, notably in Chengannur in Alappuzha district, particularly Pandanad where hundreds remained stranded. With the recovery of six more bodies at Paravoor in Ernakulam district on Sunday night, the death toll since August 8 rose to 223. Lt Gen D R Soni, chief of the Army's Southern Command, told a news conference in Thiruvananthapuram that drones were being used to reach people trapped in areas not easily accessible.As cleaning work began, the insides of many flood-hit homes have as much about 60 cm of mud and slush, officials said, who added that most wells too are contaminated. Kerala Water Authority and Kerala State Electricity Board are trying to restore water and power supply in many areas that have been without power and tap water for the past several days.In a tragic incident, a 19-year-old boy committed suicide in Kozhikode district after his class 12 certificate got destroyed in the deluge. Kailash had got admission for a course at Industrial Training Institute and purchased a new set of clothes and set apart some money for higher studies, police said, but when he returned home he was shocked to find his plus two certificate in shreds. Distraught, he hung himself from the ceiling of their house.

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