India: Wave alerts issued for coastal states April 24-27

Event

Strong winds in the Atlantic Ocean have given rise to high waves in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, prompting authorities to issue alerts for several states; they remain in effect as of Friday, April 27. Dangerous waves up to 3 m (10 ft) in height, with the capacity to breach the coast, are being observed. So far, no associated deaths have been reported, but some homes have been destroyed. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services has issued swell alerts for coastal areas of the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Andaman, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, as well as the Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep archipelago. A red alert was first issued April 25 for Kerala and an orange alert for Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the country's eastern coast. In the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu (where hundreds of houses have been destroyed), relief camps have been set up. The worst damage has been reported in Thiruvananthapuram, where authorities have imposed restrictions at beaches since April 24.

Context

After the devastating tsunami of 2004, India developed infrastructure to issue alerts in the event of abnormal wave activity. The Indian authorities have four color codes to denote the levels of caution: red indicates a serious risk and demands action by government agencies; orange indicates extreme weather; yellow indicates authorities should monitor the situation; green denotes normal conditions. 

Advice

People present in states concerned by the current wave alerts are advised to keep abreast of the situation and adhere to all instructions issued by local authorities.