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More than 100 people are thought to have died in devastating monsoon floods in India's southern state of Kerala, the worst in almost a century.

Rescuers battled torrential rains to save residents, with nearly 150,000 reportedly left homeless.

The state government said many of those who died were crushed under debris caused by landslides.

With more rains predicted and a red alert in place, the main airport has reportedly been shut until 26 August.

A state official told AFP that 106 people had now died, while the Economic Times in India reports 114 have been killed.

Hundreds of troops have been deployed to rescue those caught up in the flooding, alongside helicopters and lifeboats.

© AFP/GETTY
The Kerala chief minister has said the state has "never seen anything like this before"

The government has urged people not to ignore evacuation orders. It is distributing food to tens of thousands who have fled to higher ground.

"We're witnessing something that has never happened before in the history of Kerala," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters.

"Almost all dams are now opened. Most of our water treatment plants are submerged. Motors are damaged."

He added that the failure of the state government of neighbouring Tamil Nadu to release water from a dam had made the situation worse.

Kerala has 41 rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea.

Parts of Kerala's commercial capital, Kochi, are also underwater, snaring up roads and railways across the state - a popular tourist destination.

India's Prime Minister and Home Minister have both offered federal support.

Schools in all 14 districts of Kerala have been closed down and some districts have banned tourists citing safety concerns.

The state is "facing the worst floods in 100 years", chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Twitter, adding that at least 324 lives have been lost so far.

Roads are damaged, mobile phone networks are down, an international airport has been closed and more than 220,000 people have been left homeless after unusually heavy rain in the past nine days.

Casualty numbers are expected to increase further, with thousands more people still stranded. Many have died from being buried in hundreds of landslides set off by the flooding.

The death toll from devastating floods in the southern Indian state of Kerala rose to 445 Sunday with the discovery of 28 more bodies as the waters recede and a massive cleanup gathers pace, government officials said.

Around a million people are still packed into temporary relief camps and 15 are reported missing even as the government mounts an operation to clean homes and public places that have been filled with dirt and sand left by the floods.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a tweet said that more than 130,000 flood-hit houses had been cleaned, or nearly a third of those affected.

Indian people look at vehicles stuck in the mud along a flooded road at Kannappankundu in Kozhikode, in the Indian state of Kerala on 10 August 2018.

Authorities are also in the process of restoring electricity connections.

People returning to their homes have been told to stay alert as receding waters leave behind a glut of snakes. State authorities and wildlife experts have formed teams to come to the aid of those who have found snakes in their home, according to local media.