Luban follows Ockhi, Sagar, Mekunu; Kerala badly needs luck

Thiruvananthapuram: Unusually frequent formation of low-pressure troughs and resultant cyclones in the Arabian Sea has made the Kerala coast by it a land prone to natural calamities, experts note.

A tropical cyclone, named Luban, currently emerging in the sea north of the Indian Ocean is the fourth in 10 months.

The first in this ‘series’ was Ockhi, which sowed destruction along the Kerala coast on November 30 last year.

Later, this May, the Arabian Sea saw the emergence and waning of cyclones Sagar and Mekunu, but Kerala was spared any damage.

In April, a storm emerged in south Atlantic Ocean, 2,000 km away from Kerala.

A month before that, Kerala looked set to face another cyclone owing to a low-pressure trough near Sri Lanka, but the state again escaped it owing to an anticyclone that emerged between India and Oman.

Cyclone Luban, currently near the Lakshadweep islands, will transform itself into a powerfukl cyclone with wind speeds ranging upto 70km per hour.

The weather system, though, will spare the narrow stretch of Kerala a direct onslaught and instead bring intense rain and strong winds.

Luban may spin its way towards Oman sucked in by the power of an anticyclone developing around the Diego Garcia atolls south of the Maldives. Currently, they are a 1,000 km away.

This possibility was further guaranteed as a cyclonic wind in circulation near Tamil Nadu was weakening making it more unlikely for Luban to change its course, according to experts.

Red alerts withdrawn

With Luban set to spare a landfall, the red alert sounded in the hilly district of Idukki and central Kerala district of Malappuram have been withdrawn. The two districts though have been placed on an orange alert and have been placed on notice to brace up for extremely heavy rainfall and highly inclement weather.