Tragedy on the other side of the world hits close to home for hundreds of Bloomington-Normal residents.
Leyons Philip with the group Bloomington Kerala Forum estimates close to 300 Twin City residents are from Kerala, where more than 1 million people have been displaced by monsoon floods and some reports say more than 400 have died.
“I know one couple where water gushed into their home and it was about six feet of water, completely destroying the first floor,” Philip recalled, adding when rescue crews arrived to pull them from the flooded home, the father refused to leave.
“The dad said this is my home, I built this, I am going to stay.”
Philip said his parents still live in the home where he grew up in Kottayam (population 136,000). They are on higher elevation so his family was spared any damage.
The damage from the floods is estimated at $3 billion.
Kerala received close to 3 feet of monsoon rains in the last three weeks. That's about as much rain as Seattle gets in a year.
Philip moved to the United States in 2004 when he was 28. After working for G.E. in Virginia, he later moved to Bloomington where he works as a technical analyst at State Farm.
He said close to 300 Kerala natives live in Bloomington-Normal and estimated the community’s Indian population to be between 3,000 and 5,000.
The group is trying to raise $30,000 in the next week to help the victims through a GoFundMe Page. It's title Flood Relief 2018.
“It’s when you have disasters that people come together,” Philip said. “Sometimes bad things need to happen for people to really show how united people are, and this is a quintessential example of what has happened.”
The group is also planning several local fundraisers. The Hindu Temple of Bloomington-Normal, 1815 Tullamore Ave., is hosting a food drive on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Signature India Restaurant and Bakery, 1407 N Veterans Pkwy, Bloomington, is hosting a fundraiser on Thursday.
Philip said funds will go to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
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