This Article is From Oct 12, 2013

As Cyclone Phailin approaches, over three lakh evacuated in Odisha

As Cyclone Phailin approaches, over three lakh evacuated in Odisha

A big wave smashes into a breakwater at a fishing harbour in Visakhapatnam

New Delhi: Cyclone Phailin, the strongest to hit India in more than a decade and classified as 'very severe' so far, is closing in towards coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at wind speeds averaging 200-210 km per hour and is expected to hit the two states between 6 pm and 8 pm tonight. The storm, likely to affect around 1.2 crore people, has triggered mass exodus in at least seven districts of the two states.

So far, more than three lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas in Odisha.

Experts say the wind speed is gusting at 210 to 220 km per hour and is expected to touch 240 km per hour when the cyclone makes landfall. However, the US Navy says winds may reach 315 kmph on landfall, classifying Phailin as a Category 5 storm - the most powerful.

The Met department says Phailin is now almost 200 km away from Gopalpur in Odisha; the cyclone is expected to make its landfall between Gopalpur and Kalingapatnam. The touchdown will trigger very heavy rainfall in coastal Odisha and northern coast of Andhra Pradesh, the weather department says.

The Odisha government has said it was setting a "zero casualty target" and was seeking "100 percent" evacuation of people in areas likely to be hit by the storm. The state government has so far evacuated nearly three lakh people from its coastal districts.

In Andhra Pradesh, 64,000 people have been evacuated so far. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has called a meeting today to monitor relief operations.

The Centre has deployed Central Reserve Police Force jawans in three vulnerable districts of Odisha - Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda. Twenty three cyclone centres and more than 100 shelter homes have been set up in the seven districts likely to be most affected. 1600 National Disaster Response Force or NDRF personnel have also been dispatched.

Indian Air Force assets in Nashik, Ranchi, Bangalore, Nagpur and Barrackpore are on standby; more than 20 planes and choppers have been deployed. A 30-member divers' team of the Indian Navy is ready; its ships will be deployed after the cyclone landfall. Five Army columns have been sent to Bhubaneswar from Ranchi.

Paradip Port, one of the 12 major ports in the country, has shut all cargo operations, plants and machinery. Paradip Port serves the eastern and central parts of the country and its hinterland extends to Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

Odisha, which faced the destruction and devastation of a super-cyclone in 1999, says it is not ready to take any chances this time. The state's Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patra told NDTV, "We are fighting against nature. We are better prepared this time, we learnt a lot from 1999." Nearly 15,000 people died in the 1999 super-cyclone.
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