Severe Weather/Winds Around the World....

India:GIANT WAVE IMPACT!! A 70-year-old woman was found pinned under the debris of her house and over 100 houses were damaged here on Friday as the sea continued to remain rough for the second day. The worst hit village was Erayumanthurai, where around 20 houses located between the Thamirabarani River and the sea, have been destroyed, forcing the evacuation of the residence to a community centre. According to sources, till Friday over 100 houses were devastated by the high tide at Enayam, Mulloorthurai, Ramanthurai, Erayumanthurai, Marthandamthurai and Neerodi colony. Abinesial, 70, of Erayumanthurai was killed when tidal waves destroyed the walls of her house. Bus service via Thengapattanam remained terminated. Fishermen from across the district abstained from fishing. When collector Rajendra Kumar inspected the affected areas near Thengapattanam, the residents gheraoed his car and urged the administration to build a retaining wall along the coastline. The collector assured them to disburse compensation.)

[Re: Severe Weather/Winds Around the World
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Rough sea scares people in Kumari, Ramanathapuram districts

Rameswaram/Kanyakumari, June 16: Sea remained rough in parts of Kanyakumari and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu as giant waves left three persons injured and caused damage to houses and roads in coastal hamlets today.
The sea was "abnormally rough..In fact fierce" in Kolachel, Kodimunai, Vaniyankudi, Kurumbanai, Erayumanthurai, and Ramanthurai in Kanyakumari district and Mukundharayar chattiram in this island, officials said.
Three persons including, two women, were injured as the violent waves tossed them in Erayumanthurai area. They have been hospitalised.
More than 30 houses were damaged in Erayumanthurai and 25 houses in Kadiyapatinam villages in Kanyakumari district as sea water entered the houses, bringing back dark memories of the 2004 tsunami, a report from Kanyakumari said.
Fishermen kept away from the sea while boat services to the Thiruvalluvar statue, a popular tourist spot in the sea off Kanyakumari, were suspended.
People at Kadiyapattinam were scared by the unusually high (about 20 feet) sea waves, which leaped past the barrier wall and inundated the village.
Water also entered huts close to the shore in Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi road suffered extensive damage.
Four Sri Lankan Tamil refugees were stranded at the fourth sand dune between Rameswaram and Sri Lanka as the boatmen who ferried them could not navigate in the rough sea.
Rameswaram fishermen informed the Indian Coastguard officials, but they could not reach the spot in view of rough sea conditions. They would be rescued tomorrow. - Agencies
[Jun 17, 2009 -Chennai Online]

Kumari village set to disappear...

NAGERCOIL: Erayumanthurai fishing hamlet, southernmost village in Kanyakumari district is the worst affected by sea erosion and is in the danger of disappearing from the map.

Located between the Arabian Sea, AVM Canal and the perennial Thamirabarani River, Erayumanthurai is very vulnerable for sea erosion. The sea has engulfed more than half its land eating away rows of houses, coconut trees and fishing equipment worth lakhs. During monsoon, the heavily flooded river enters the village, causing more damage. For the villagers, fishing is the only occupation and during such times, they are the worst affected.

However, the village continues to survive due to a weak and permeable wall, which is slowly collapsing as the sand from beneath continues to get washed away. A number of representations to the district headquarters and the Secretariat in Chennai has yielded no action.

Twenty years ago, the distance between the sea and the river was about 700 metres with eight rows of houses, besides a road, Erayumanthurai parish council member Dunston told Express. But now the distance was merely 50 metres with rows of houses, due to sea erosion.

He said in 1982, when an anti-sea erosion wall was constructed, the population was 7,000 and now it has dwindled to just 2,500.

Priest Ignatius Russel said: “Constructing a backwater on the west of the village is the only solution, but it has been objected by the neighbouring villagers, who fear that it would affect them in turn.”

Professor and oceanographer Vareethiah said construction of fishing harbours, power plants, industries, groynes or any other structure obstructing the course of the sea currents would have a reverse effect on the behaviour of the sea.

“For the past 25 to 30 years, Kanyakumari coast has been witnessing heavy erosion with Neerodi-Kurumbanai being severely battered. This can be attributed to the breakwaters and fishing harbour constructed at Vizhingam, Kerala,” he noted.

“People normally reckon that anti-erosion protection wall can solve the problem. But that only negates the dynamics of the sea currents. A seawall can protect the landscape only for a particular period of time after which the waves will start washing the sand from beneath. If the wall is not reinforced every year without fail, it will create more problems.”

[L Arun Oscar First Published : 08 Jun 2009 02:28:00 AM IST Last Updated]