Red alert on swell surge issued for the first time in Kerala, Tamil Nadu coastal areas

Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services  (INCOIS) has issued a red alert on a possible 'kallakkadal' (swell surge) phenomenon for the coastal areas of Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu.
The centre has forecast high-energy swell waves on the Kerala coast from 2.30 am to 11.30 pm on May 4 and 5. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said that this was the first time that a red alert has been issued on swell surge in Kerala.

KSDMA has issued directions to the district administration to issue warnings to people who sleep on the beach at night. Beach-side vendors have also been advised to store their wares on the roadside and not on the shore. INCOIS has warned that erratic high waves ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 metres, might hit the coastal areas. It had also urged fishermen to secure their boats and refrain from setting out to sea.

Agencies, including INCOIS and KSDMA, recommend that coastal residents and visitors keep a safe distance from the shoreline and avoid beach trips or sea-based activities during this period.

The unexpected 'kallakkadal' is driven by robust winds from the southern Indian Ocean. The UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has accepted 'kallakkadal' as the global title for the phenomenon that involves the sudden and unannounced swell of waves that could wreak havoc along the coast.

As per the annual report of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the term 'kallakadal' was first proposed by ESSO-NCESS and was accepted by UNESCO in 2012 for describing such freak events of coastal flooding.