The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) issued a swell surge warning for the second consecutive day for Kerala and south Tamil Nadu, along with other parts of the country, for May 4 and 5, suspending fishing, recreational activities at beaches and nearshore regions in the coastal States on these days. An orange alert has been issued due to the high period swells in the southern Atlantic Ocean, triggering high energy swell propagation towards the Indian coastal regions.
According to an INCOIS bulletin on Saturday, the system started interacting with nearshore regions of south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala, and the coastal wave rider buoys detected the long-period swell waves at Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Vizhinjam, and Kollam. As the system starts interacting with nearshore regions, it will weaken further and surging may be expected near low-lying areas of the Kerala coasts between Saturday evening and Sunday.
It is forecasted that there is a possibility that the sea will be rough nearshore along the coast from 5.30 p.m. on Saturday to 11.30 p.m. on Sunday due to the effect of high period (17-22 seconds) swell waves, having heights of 0.5 - 1.5 m. Fishermen and the coastal population are alerted to be cautious of the possible surging of waves (gushing of seawater) intermittently in the nearshore and beach regions, particularly in the low-lying areas and during high tide and spring tide phases.
Boats should be anchored at a fair distance from each other to avoid collisions and damage. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has suspended all kinds of activities, including fishing, from Saturday night as a precautionary step.
