The district administration on Sunday shifted around 600 families living in coastal areas to safer locations even as Cyclone Ockhi showed signs of receding. Special rehabilitation camps were opened in various part of Vadakara village, Kozhikode and Kadalundi. A majority of those shifted to the camps were from the coastal areas of Vadakara.
District Collector U.V. Jose visited the camps to review the situation and make necessary arrangements for the relocated families. Steps were taken to supply food and water to them till they returned to their houses. Temporary rehabilitation facilities were made available for Lakshadweep natives stranded at Beypore following the cancellation of ship services. Around 120 passengers were offered temporary support.
The jail authorities said the free meals scheme introduced by them would be made available for the stranded persons. All of them were accommodated in a nearby lodge and they would be provided all support till their return to the island, they said.
On Saturday night, sea erosion along the coast of Puthiyangadi, Vadakara and Kadalundi was severe. Water level increased to a dangerous level in many locations. There have been no reports on people going missing. Several fishing boats anchored on the coastline were partly damaged in the high tide. The Collector has sought the support of the local administrators in Mangaluru and Karwar regions, where fishermen from Kozhikode sought shelter soon after the Ockhi alert. Many of them faced hurdles to get temporary rehabilitation facilities in the absence of documents related to fishing boats and their identity.
Fishermen rescued
Following messages that there were still fishing boats off the Kozhikode coast that could not reach the shore, a Coast Guard team from Mangaluru conducted extensive search and rescue operation off the Beypore coast. Twenty-seven fishermen who were rescued from the area were brought to the Beypore port in the evening.
The district-level disaster management authorities said the situation was under control and the sea conditions would return to normal by Monday evening. The northern regions of the State would not have to worry much as the force of the cyclone had diminished, they said.
