"Very severe" cyclonic storm Phailin made landfall near Gopalpur in Odisha on Saturday night with wind speed of around 200 kilometres per hour, causing very heavy rain in most parts of the state. While the cyclone has affected communication lines and power supply in many areas, government sources say there has reportedly been no loss of life after the cyclone hit the coast.
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With many parts of Odisha still plunged in darkness and communication lines down, the full extent of the damage caused by the cyclone is yet to be ascertained. But reports so far suggest that timely precautions and massive evacuation operations have resulted in minimal loss of life. (Full coverage)
"There seems to be zero loss of life," the India Meteorological Department chief, LS Rathore, told reporters this morning and added that accurate track and intensity predictions helped save lives.
The IMD chief also added that cyclone Phailin is now moving north-northwestwards and is weakening gradually. It is currently situated 200km inside Odisha near Sambalpur with wind speed of 100 km per hour. It will downgrade to a cyclonic storm by this afternoon and will become a deep depression by late evening it.
(Track LIVE updates)Under the influence of the cyclone, several parts of Odisha like Paradip will witness heavy rainfall for next 24 hours. The Met department has also predicted heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim in the next 48 hours. It has also issued a flood warning for Bihar.
(Helplines numbers)The morning after the cyclone hit, cars were seen tumbled over on the roads in areas like Berhampur. Trees and electricity poles were also uprooted due to strong winds. Glass windows of several houses were shattered and roofs of kuchcha houses were blown away. The administration has already begun clearing the roads. Efforts are on to reopen road connectivity and restore communication and power lines soonest.
(Cyclone Phailin: NDTV reports from Ground Zero)Ganjam district in south Odisha is believed to have been the worst-hit due to the cyclone, with extensive damage to crops and some buildings, government sources have said. Coastal areas in northern Andhra Pradesh however managed to escape the fury of Phailin.(Cyclone Phailin: coastal Andhra Pradesh escapes fury, no loss of life reported)
While no deaths have been reported after the cyclone hit, there were reports of some casualties before Phailin made landfall. BJD MP Jay Panda has said at least seven people died due to incidents like wall collapse, all before the cyclone hit. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has confirmed five deaths.
(Blog: My experience of covering the 1999 super-cyclone)A total of 29 NDRF teams are continuing rescue and relief operations in Odisha. They have rescued 18 fishermen from Padampur village.
The cyclone has prompted the country's biggest evacuation in 23 years with nine lakh people moved up from the coastline in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to safer places. As the cyclone hit Gopalpur yesterday, tidal waves rose to 3.5 metres. In Ganjam district, there were reports of wind speeds hitting upto 240 km per hour.
The cyclone has destroyed railway signals and high-tension electricity wires and uprooted tracks and railway platforms at various stations, bringing rail services in the region to a halt. "More than 100 trains have been cancelled in Bhadrak, Puri and Palasa sections while at least 25 other trains have been diverted," East Coast Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena said today. The airport in capital Bhubaneswar was also closed yesterday and 10 flights were cancelled.
