Severe cyclone Ockhi, which wreaked havoc on Thursday in two districts in Kerala and one in Tamil Nadu with heavy rains and gale-speed winds, continued its violent surge westward to lakshadweep on Friday while the death toll in Kerala rose to seven.
About 215 fishermen who were lying stranded in the Arabian Sea off the Kerala coast since Wednesday night were brought back to the shore on Friday in the rescue operations carried out jointly by the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and other agencies. A minimum of 35 fishermen were still trapped in the choppy sea, authorities said late Friday evening.
The severe cyclone, born out of an intense low-pressure system south-southeast of Kanyakumari on Thursday, was likely to strengthen further as it neared lakshadweep and trigger a ‘red warning’ for that region, the highest category alert, reports said. Sources said that the severe cyclone had started wreaking havoc on Minicoy island by Friday afternoon.
Reports from lakshadweep said 6-meter-high waves were seen on the coastline at Kalpeni island. Five boats anchored off shore were washed away and boats were unable to reach the coast. “The situation is extremely serious in Minicoy. Fortunately, there have been no casualties,” said lakshadweep’s sole MP Muhammad Faisal.
As many as 160 people were shifted to 11 village homes and a school in Minicoy by Friday afternoon as gales and heavy rains lashed the lakshadweep islands. Shanavas, a passenger in a ship bound for lakshadweep told a TV channel that the sea was extremely rough. A Navy ship left Kochi for lakshadweep for rescue operations.
An IMD release said cyclonic system might intensify further till Saturday morning with wind speeds reaching 110-120 KMPH over and around lakshadweep and decrease gradually thereafter. The system was likely to continue its rush north-northeastward in the subsequent 48 hours, it said.
A 48-hour high alert was sounded for lakshadweep and a 24-hour one for Kerala on Friday but Kerala Fisheries Minister J Mercikutty Amma said fishermen should not venture into the sea for a week as “it can remain unimaginably turbulent in the coming days”. Weathermen said possibility of new cyclone-generated winds lashing the State could not be ruled out.
Weather condition in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, the Kerala districts that bore the maximum brunt of the cyclone on Thursday after being battered by gales and heavy rains offered some relief on Friday. IMD sources said isolated heavy to very heavy rains and strong winds could continue in the north of the State.
Reports from northern Kerala said that one fisherman went missing and two others were rescued after their boat capsized off the Neeleswaram coast in Kasaragod district. About 90 fishermen were stranded off the coast in Kasaragod while 34 fishermen were reportedly trapped off Beypore coast in Kozhikode district.
The Arabian Sea remained turbulent along the entire Kerala coastline on Friday and extreme turbulence was reported from Punnapra, Purakkad and Thrikkunnappuzha in Alappuzha district, Chellanam and Edavanakkad near Kochi, Kodungallur in Thrissur and Ponnani in Malappuram district. Several houses near were damaged in Kodungallur.
Three fishermen from Poonthura fishing hamlet in Thiruvananthapuram, who were rescued from the sea by the Navy, died after arriving on the coast, taking the death toll since the cyclone’s eruption to seven in Kerala. Four persons, including an elderly couple and a woman, had been killed in incidents of tree-uprooting and electrocution on Thursday.
In perhaps the most massive joint rescue operations in Kerala, hundreds of personnel from the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and other agencies rescued at least 214 fishermen stranded in the turbulent sea for the past two days with the help of six aircraft and eleven ships. The National disaster Response Force would be rushing more personnel to Kerala.
Though there was a delay in starting the rescue operations in the morning, leading to stiff protests from the fishing community, the forces were able to instill hope in the minds of people soon by bringing fishermen back from the sea rapidly. A Japanese cargo vessel passing through the region rescued at least 60 fishermen.
“I congratulate and thank our forces and other agencies for the herculean task they have undertaken and are carrying out with great efficiency,” said Minister Mercikutty Amma. Rescue operations went on till late Friday evening despite the adverse weather conditions and the Minister said the efforts would continue on Friday morning.