As cyclone Ockhi continued to lash heavy rains in the coastal areas of Kerala on Friday, the death toll reached 7 in the state. While five deaths were reported from Thiruvananthapuram, one fatality each was reported from Kollam and Kasargod.
Meanwhile the Navy and the Coast guard carried out a massive operation named "Operation Synergy" through the day on Friday to rescue 218 fishermen. The Navy could also trace 38 missing boats. The occupants have been provided rescue kits and food. Efforts and search operations are on and will continue to trace the remaining boats.
Warships INS Shardul, INS Nireekshak, INS Kalpeni, INS Kabra and seven other naval ships, two helicopters and a dornier aircraft of the Navy, and two ships and two helicopters of Coast Guard took part in the operations, reports Deccan Chronicle.
The naval operations were carried out under Southern Naval command chief RJ Nadkarni, commando Deepak Kumar and captain Sudeep Naik. Meanwhile while Coast Guard rescue operations were led by Commandant BK Varghese.
Search and rescue operations were mainly done in Vizhinjam, Adimalathura, Poovar, Pozhiyoor, Puthiayathura, Thumba coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram district. Similar rescue missions were carried out in Paravur , Thanaksseri, Neendakara , Mayyanad regions in Kochi district.
A report in TNIE said that, around 56 houses were completely destroyed and 799 houses faced partial destruction. The government was quick to open a total of 29 relief camps across the state. These include 18 in Thiruvananthapuram, five in Kollam, three in Ernakulam, two in Alappuzha and one in Thrissur. As many as 2,755 people belonging to 491 families have found a safe haven in these temporary shelters.
Deccan Chronicle reports that the fishermen who braved long dreadful hours in the seas amidst the fury complained of physical illness like drunken stupor, sleepiness, shivering, blurred speech, weak pulse and low blood pressure etc.
Meanwhile the Met Department has warned of heavy rainfall (7-11 cm in a span of 24 hours) to ‘very heavy rainfall’ (12-20 cm in 24 hours) till Sunday morning.