Fishermen's tragedy exposes Sri Lanka's early-warning gaps

  07 Feb 2012 12:07

A traditional fishing boat operates in waters near Kaparatotta, Sri Lanka, where 14 fishermen were killed when gale force winds swept through in November 2011, without any early warning of the storm. ALERTNET/Indika Sriyan

By Amantha Perera

KAPARATOTTA, Sri Lanka (AlertNet) - When they headed out into shallow waters that evening, the fishermen of the small village of Kaparatotta didn’t notice anything to cause alarm. The sky was a little cloudy, and the sea its usual boisterous self - not safe for a swim, yet nothing seasoned fishermen couldn’t handle.

But around 9 pm on Nov. 25, 2011, the ocean suddenly turned vicious. Within a few minutes, the small wooden boats with outboard engines, trolling just 1 to2 kilometers from shore, were being battered by waves as high as 25 feet.  Full Story>>>