Udupi: The authorities have alerted the tourists here in Malpe beach not to venture into the sea and also warned the fishermen to keep off the sea on November 2 owing to cyclone Ockhi which has already claimed 13 lives.
Boating here at St Mary’s Island has also been banned. The palm fringed St. Mary’s Island, a popular tourist destination and a 30-minute boat ride from Malpe beach, has basalt rock formations jutting out in different shapes. It was declared as a national geological monument by the Geological Survey of India in 1979.
In all, 7 people have died in coastal Kerala and 6 in Tamil Nadu and nearly 90 fishermen are missing as a depression above the Bay of Bengal turned into a cyclonic storm.
Cyclone Ockhi intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and moved towards Lakshadweep on December 2, after causing heavy rain that has left around 13 people dead in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Navy has been called in to rescue stranded fishermen. Cyclone Ockhi is likely to strengthen further, triggering a “red warning” for Lakshadweep – the highest category alert.
The worst seems to be over in the mainland but forecasters have warned of heavy rain in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Schools near the coast in the two states have been closed. In Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi districts of Tamil Nadu, strong winds uprooted more than 500 trees, snapped power lines and damaged settlements close to the sea. Heavy rain is likely to continue.
