Fishermen panic as ‘Windy’ predicts cyclone

“We lost a lot of lives in cyclone ‘Ockhi’ and we are not ready to lose more lives in another cyclone. The State and central government should send helicopters, ships and life-saving boats to bring back the fishermen who have already ventured into the sea,” said Justin Antony, founding president, International Fishermen Development Trust (INFIDET). 

Speaking to DT Next, Justin Antony said he was the first person to spot the cyclone formation in the first week of October, in a mobile app called ‘Windy’. The app showed that the cyclone would form on October 6 in the Arabian sea and will be active until October 9.

“The information on the app was shocking as the Fisheries Department did not issue any warning to the fishermen. Only when I contacted them, the fisheries officials passed on the warning to the fishermen. Later, I received a warning from the Tiruvananthapuram meteorological centre about the cyclone,” said Justin Antony.

He also said that by the time the alert reached the fishermen, most of them had ventured into the sea and some will remain in the sea for more than 30 days. 

By the time the cyclone strikes, the fishermen could be caught in it and would not be able to make it back to shore, just as it happened during ‘Ockhi’, he said. 

However, ‘Tamil Nadu Weatherman’ Pradeep John said that fishermen need not worry about the cyclone warning. 

“In the Windy app, it shows that a low pressure depression would form on October 6 but it is too early to predict its course of movement. There are two models in the app and both of the models predict the movement in two different directions,” he added.

He also said the system, if it forms, should not be compared with cyclone ‘Ockhi’. 

“One eye of cyclone ‘Ockhi’ almost touched the Kanniyakumari coast resulting in wind and heavy rain. However, according to the app, the low pressure area will form around 300 nautical miles off the coast. It will have only a minimal effect on the fishermen and the land. However, we need 

to wait for a couple of days to have a clearer picture,” said Pradeep John.