Cyclone Fani leaves 12 dead; PM to visit Odisha

Last updated on: May 04, 2019 17:41 IST

A day after the "rarest of rare" summer cyclone Fani ravaged parts of Odisha,
killing at least 12 people, a massive restoration-and-relief work was launched on
war-footing on Saturday across 10,000 villages and urban areas, officials said.

IMAGE: A view of the destruction caused by Cyclone Fani after its landfall in Puri.
Photograph: Courtesy @IndiaCoastGuard/Twitter
The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which made landfall at Puri on Friday,
unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 200 kmph, blowing away
thatched roofs of houses, swamping towns and villages, before weakening and
entering West Bengal, they said.

Around 2,000 emergency workers, along with civil society organisations, personnel
of the National Disaster Response Force, the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and
one lakh officials, were engaged in the restoration work, Odisha chief minister
Naveen Patnaik said in a statement, before leaving for an aerial survey of the
affected areas.

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The death toll due to the calamity, which stood at eight on Friday, mounted to 12
with four fresh casualties reported from Mayurbhanj district, the officials said,
adding that detailed information from many areas was still awaited.

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IMAGE: Cyclone Fani caused extensive damage to telecommunications and power
infrastructure in Puri, Bhubaneswar and some other areas of Odisha. Photograph:
Courtesy @IndiaCoastGuard/Twitter
All the four people were killed after uprooted trees fell on them at different
places in Baripada, the emergency officer of Mayurbhanj district, S K Pati, said.

"This is a rarest of rare summer cyclone.... The first such to hit Odisha in 43
years and one of the three to hit the state in the last 150 years," Patnaik said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, spoke to Patnaik and discussed the prevailing
situation in the aftermath of Fani's landfall, is likely to visit the affected
areas either on Sunday or Monday, CMO sources said.

The prime minister has assured continuous support from the Centre.

"Spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Ji and discussed the situation prevailing due to
Cyclone Fani. Assured continuous support from the Central Government ... The entire
nation stands in solidarity with all those affected by the cyclone in different
parts," Modi said in a tweet.

IMAGE: Cyclone Fani leaves trail of destruction in Puri. Photograph: Courtesy

@IndiaCoastGuard/Twitter
The districts of Puri and Khurda were the worst-affected, the chief minister said,
adding that Cuttack, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore, Mayurbhanj,
Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and Nayagarh were also hit by the cyclone.

"In Puri and parts of Khurda, where the electricity infrastructure has totally been
devastated, we have the challenge of having to set up the entire electrification
afresh," Patnaik said.

WATCH: An aerial view from a navy Dornier of extensive inundation around Puri
caused by Cyclone Fani

Though the "extremely severe" cyclone weakened into a "very severe" cyclonic storm
in a few hours, it flattened houses with thatched roofs and kutcha houses, uprooted
scores of trees, electric poles and mobile towers in coastal Odisha.

Hundreds of engineers and technicians were working to restore power supply, the
officials said.

Work was on to restore road communication, thrown into disarray with thousands of
uprooted trees blocking the way at innumerable places, Patnaik said.

IMAGE: A naval Dornier aircraft carried out an aerial survey and found extensive
damage to vegetation at many places around Puri. Photograph: Courtesy
@IndiaCoastGuard/Twitter
The men and machinery of the NDRF, the ODRAF and the fire services swung into
action and launched a massive restoration work to bring back normalcy, Special
Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said.

"For me and my government, every life is precious and we have worked with that
goal. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart all the volunteers,
panchayati raj institution (PRI) members, officials and staff who worked tirelessly
and selflessly to get around 12 lakh people to safety," Patnaik said.

State Energy Secretary Hemanth Sharma said around 30 lakh power consumers were
affected by the cyclone, which threw the electricity distribution infrastructure
out of gear in most coastal districts.

The restoration work was on in full swing, he added.

IMAGE: A tree seen uprooted as Cyclone Fani makes landfall in Kolkata. Photograph:
PTI Photo
Over 10,000 electric poles were uprooted or broken in Bhubaneswar, he said, adding
that efforts were on to restore power supply in 25 per cent crucial sectors such as
the airport, the railway station and hospitals.

Another 25 per cent work would be completed on Sunday and efforts were on to
restore complete normalcy at the earliest, Sharma said.

The power network has been severely damaged in districts such as Puri, Khurda,
Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Balasore.

IMAGE: The cyclonic storm battered the coastal districts of the country and
destroyed hundreds of houses. Photograph: PTI Photo
The Quick Action Team of the premier naval training establishment, INS Chilka, was
immediately deployed to provide emergency assistance in cutting and clearing trees
in some areas, said an official.

A naval Dornier aircraft carried out an aerial survey and found extensive damage to
vegetation at many places around Puri.

Large-scale inundation was observed at many places, particularly in the low-lying

areas between Puri and the Chilka lake, the official said.

IMAGE: Trees bend with gusty winds. Photograph: PTI Photo

The chief minister said nearly 12 lakh people were evacuated and shifted to safer
locations from about 10,000 villages and 52 urban agglomerations, 24 hours ahead of
the cyclone, "probably the largest such exercise at the time of a natural calamity
in the country".

The evacuees were accommodated in over 4,000 shelters, including 880 specially-
designed cyclone centres, he added.

Cooked food is being served to them for free.

After the landfall, the cyclone passed through Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and
Balasore before entering West Bengal, the SRC said, adding that Bhubaneswar was hit
by high-velocity winds of around 140 kmph.

IMAGE: Strong wind and heavy rain blow down electric poles. Photograph: PTI Photo
Telecommunication lines got snapped in several parts of the state capital and other
areas.

The summer crops, orchards and plantations also suffered a huge damage, he said.

Around 220 trains on the Howrah-Chennai route were cancelled in view of passengers'
safety, an East Coast Railway official said.