Hero dog saves Indian family in flood-hit Kerala

Local residents look at a partially destroyed house after heavy monsoon rains led to a landslide in Kannappankund, in the Indian state of Kerala on August 11, 2018. (AFP)

In this photo taken on August 9, 2018, water gushes out of Idamalayar dam as shutters of the dam opened with the storage level crossing 169 metre, the full reservoir level near Bhoothathankettu, on the Idamalayar River, a tributary of the Periyar River. (AFP)

An Indian man carries a basket of bananas next to houses immersed in flood waters in Ernakulam district of Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala on August 10, 2018. (AFP)

Indian residents look at houses destroyed by flood waters at Kannappankundu in Kozhikode, in the Indian state of Kerala on August 10, 2018. (AFP)

• Kerala, famed for its pristine palm-lined beaches and tea plantations, is battered by the monsoon every year but the rains have been particularly severe this season
• More than a million foreign tourists visited Kerala last year

NEW DELHI: A family in the flood-ravaged Indian state of Kerala narrowly escaped death after their pet dog woke them up moments before a landslide destroyed their home, local media reported Monday.
Mohanan P. and his family were sleeping at home in the mountainous Idukki district when their pet dog started barking raucously at around 3:00 am, waking the household.
“That’s when we realized something was wrong. I went out to see and we had to just rush out of the house,” Mohanan told Indian news network NDTV.
No sooner had the family rushed out when the landslide plowed down a nearby hill and demolished their home.
The family, dog in tow, have since moved to a government-run relief camp nearby.
Flash floods triggered by the annual monsoon rains have pounded the southern tourist hotspot in the past few days, killing 39 people and leaving 100,000 more homeless so far.