Cyclone Phailin: First priority was to save precious lives, says Odisha Chief Minister

In one of the biggest evacuation drives ever in India, over nine lakh people were moved to safer places as Cyclone Phailin slammed into the Odisha coast on Saturday evening. Speaking to NDTV, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that his government's "first priority was to save precious human lives and to a great extent we have achieved that". He also thanked the entire state administration as well as the Navy and Army for mounting the mammoth rescue and relief operations. The Chief Minister also said that his next focus was to rehabilitate those who had lost their homes and crops.