Redrawn coastlines. Ravaged houses. Wrecked boats. Missing fishermen. Broken lives. Shattered dreams... death... destruction. Ten days have passed since Cyclone Ockhi swept through the Arabian Sea, leaving behind a trail of unprecedented anguish along the Kerala coast.
As many as 38 bodies have been recovered and several hundred fishermen are still unaccounted for.There is overriding antagonism in the fishing villages at the alleged apathy in rescuing those stranded at sea.
The Navy and the Coast Guard have been scouring the waters, with the search extended to the Maldives coastline. The Navy, the Coast Guard and the IAF have till date saved 662 fishermen from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep, apart from the five Sri Lankans on board MV Stream, a merchant vessel.
The fishermen who survived the violent waves say they have never encountered such turbulence at sea. Many of them survived combating the blazing sun, gale-force winds and the raging sea with neither food nor water for days before being rescued.
Express has been taking striking photos right from the day Ockhi struck, with some of our pictures having gone viral on social media. But we couldn’t publish many photos owing to space constraints. We bring to light some of those images here as a token of homage to those who succumbed to the cyclone, while expressing solidarity with those awaiting the rescue of their loved ones.