INCOIS seeks halt in beach activities on May 4 and 5, issues alert to coastal States on rough seas

Hyderabad-based INCOIS warns coastal States of India about potential coastal flooding due to high-period swells on May 4 and 5.

INCOIS – Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, has cautioned the States of Goa, Maharastra West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshwadeep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands of “total suspension of operational/recreational activities at beach/nearshore regions on the coastal States both on the east and west on May 4 and 5.

This is because of the possibility of swell surges and rough sea conditions associated with the effect of high-period swell waves that are approaching from the distant southern Indian Ocean. Fishermen and coastal populations have been particularly advised to be cautious about possible surging of waves like the gushing of sea water intermittently in the nearshore/beach region, particularly in low-lying areas.

Senior scientist and group director T. Balakrishnan Nair informed on Friday afternoon that the high period swells had started at approximately 10,000 km away from the Indian coast on April 26 in the southern Atlantic Ocean (15E and 60S) and slowly moved towards southern Indian Ocean (~35-55E; 60-50S) around April 28.

This had caused the high energy swell propagation towards the Indian coastal regions which is expected to hit the southern tip of India in the early hours of May 4 (02:30 am). These long-period swells combined with high tide conditions can cause coastal flooding in the low-lying areas of the above mentioned States on May 4 & 5, he alerted.

“The low-lying coastal areas are particularly vulnerable. We are presently monitoring the situation and the updates will appear on INCOIS website and the public is advised to check www.incois.gov.in/portal/osf/osf.jsp for further information and updates on the event,” he said.

Small vessels should not be plying nearshore and boats may be anchored at a fair distance from each other to avoid collision and damage. INCOIS, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has been issuing Ocean State Forecast (OSF) Services about wave height, direction and period, sea surface currents, temperature, etc., based on a multi-model operational forecasting system built upon numerical ocean models assimilated with real-time data from buoys deployed in the coastal waters as well as in the open ocean, even deep south in the southern Indian Ocean, he added.