Scientists have warned of the possibility of high wave surge and tidal flooding along the low lying areas of Kerala coast, particularly in the Southern districts of the State for the next three days. State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has also warned of the possibility of high wave surge in Kerala coast. “There is a possibility of wave surge along the coast in the low-lying areas, especially Southern districts of Kerala for next 3 days from Aug 31 morning to Sept 2 evening due to the combined effect of high period (14-17 seconds) swell waves, having heights of 2 to 3 m coinciding with the spring tide of Sept 1,” SEOC head scientist and Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) member Sekhar Kuriakose told TOI. INCOIS scientists have also warned of the possibility of high wave surge along the Kerala coast. High waves in the range of 2.5 – 3.0 meters are forecast along the Kerala coast during 5.30 pm on Aug 30 to 11.30 pm on Sept 1. KSDMA scientists said that they have issued high wave alert in the Kerala coast due to the effect of spring tides and strong winds. “We have warned the coastal community, particularly the fishermen to be cautious from venturing into the sea. The fishermen have been advised to keep their boats and livelihood tools secured in harbours to prevent it from tidal floods,” the scientists said. Spring tides occur either during Full moon or New moon, when the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth are aligned and their collective gravitational pull on the Earth gets strengthened, which can lead to tidal surge along the coast. “Sept 1 is a New Moon Day and the celestial experience of annular solar eclipse can be witnessed by residents along Indian Ocean and African region and as partial eclipse in parts of the world. Any change in the Sun, Moon and Earth alignment will result in anomalies in the gravitational pull which may manifest as high tides,” said Science activist and writer Rajagopal Kamath. While, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) scientists have also warned of heavy rains in parts of Kerala along with strong winds from North-westerly direction at a speed occasionally reaching 45-55 kmph and have advised fishermen to be cautious from venturing into the sea.
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