Oct 12, 2013 13:43 (IST)
M Shashidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman, NDMA speaks:
- The cyclone is located 180 km off Gopalpur is what I am told
- 3,60,000 people have been evacuated from Odisha
- The track of the cyclone is more or less in and around Gopalpur
- Heavy rains have started and will further intensify
- Our damage assessment is same as done by the Indian Meteorological Department
- NDRF teams have been deployed
- Request for additional teams in Andhra Pradesh which will be made available
- Ganjam in Odisha expected to be the most affected, we have deployed 40% of our resources there
- PM will be returning today, we will brief him on all the updates
- 1200 NDRF personnel deployed in Odisha; 600 in Andhra Pradesh
- Our priority is to minimise casualties
- Highest evacuation was in 1990 in Andhra Pradesh where 6 lakh people were evacuated
- The local administration needs to instruct people, we need to create that awareness and at times even force is used
- Loss of property is inevitable
- On the whole, about 4 lakh people have been evacuated from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
- I spoke to both the Chief Ministers (Andhra and Odisha) and also the ministers from both the state
- Control rooms are touch with the Collectors in districts which are expected to be worst affected
- Cyclone shelters are not the only place where people are evacuated to, camps are also set up at different locations based on availability
- These are for a shorter period of time
- They have also identified 1000 safe buildings in Odisha to relocate the evacuees
- The US Coast Guards and NOAA have downgraded this cyclone this morning
- The IMD has been accurate with providing figures in the past
- The loss of life during Cyclone Katrina was high because people did not abide by the advisories but we have better technology and resources now and I believe we will be able to minimise loss of life
- We are well prepared