Eight people have been killed as cyclone Fani made a landfall in Puri on Odisha coast around 8 am, triggering heavy rainfall coupled with high velocity winds with speed of 175 kmph in vast areas. The area along Puri witnessed strong winds. Early this morning, Cyclone Fani hit West Bengal and is to continue further in the North-East direction with the wind speed of 90 km/hour, reported news agency ANI.
On Friday, large areas in Puri and other places were submerged with water as heavy rains battered the entire coastal belt of the state. Several trees were uprooted and thatched structures destroyed at some places including Bhubaneswar. All flights from Bhubaneswar have been cancelled from midnight, Kolkata airport will be shut between 3 pm today and till 8 am on Saturday. A total of 140 trains including 83 passenger trains have been cancelled so far.
Cyclone Fani -- pronounced "Foni" -- also triggered heavy rains in parts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, where gusty winds with speed reaching up to 140 kmph uprooted trees and electricity poles, officials said. The cyclone moved close to north coastal Andhra before it made landfall in Odisha. The Odisha government has already evacuated lakhs of people from the coastal areas to camps on higher grounds.
At least 14 districts in Odisha are in the path of the Cyclone Fani. People have been evacuated from Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Naygarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar which are expected to be badly impacted by the storm. Nearly 11 lakh people have been evacuated in last 24 hrs. Ganjam and Puri evacuated more than 3 lakh and 1.3 lakh people respectively to safe shelters. About 5000 kitchens started operating to serve people in the shelters.
The Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and disaster management agencies on stand-by. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, reviewed preparedness for Cyclone Fani with his senior-most officials.
Here are the updates on Cyclone Fani:
- In the last 24 hours, over 12 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable districts to safer locations
- Puri, where the cyclone made landfall, has suffered the most amount of damage
- Restoration of electricity is a challenge. Electricity supply will be restored in Ganjam by tomorrow. Restoration of communication has been completed in Ganjam and Gajapati districts
According to the Meteorological department, the extremely severe cyclonic storm relatively weakened after entering coastal Odisha and transformed into "very severe" as it approached Bengal.
As per 7.30pm
As per information from IMD, the Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm 'FANI' crossed Odisha coast close to Puri between 0800 and 1000 hrs with maximum wind speed of around 175 KMPH. Thereafter, the system moved to khordha district with high wind and heavy rainfall in the district including Bhubaneswar before moving northwards to Cuttack. Khordha including Bhubnaeswar, Cuttack and Puri districts were severely affected.
"We were up there, but the home is shaking. So we came down here," a young man said.
The group of young men called it a terrifying experience and said they had gone to another building for shelter however they couldn't brave the very strong winds.
Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan, he said the government was with the people in times of crises.
A detailed review meeting was held and he had been given the latest updates on Cyclone Fani, PM Modi said as the extremely severe cyclonic storm hit Odisha on Friday morning.
"Lakhs of families are affected by a cyclone in the coastal areas of Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and the Centre is in touch with the state governments. I got the latest update from officers sometime ago and also held a detailed review meeting yesterday. More than Rs 1,000 crore have been released in advance," PM Modi told the rally.
He added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Coast Guard, the Navy and the Army were engaged in the relief works.
"I want to assure the people of the cyclone-affected states that the entire country and the Centre are standing by the affected families and the state governments," PM Modi said.
A red alert has been issued in coastal areas and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.
The state government has taken precautionary measures for districts like East and West Midnapore, both North and South 24 Parganas besides, Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram and Kolkata and Sundarbans to avert any untoward incident.
Several trains from the city have been cancelled while the city airport has decided to remain shut from 3 PM Friday till 8 AM Saturday.
Kolkata Police has opened a control room at its headquarters to monitor the situation in the city.
All government and government-aided schools have suspended classes from Friday and the Health Department has cancelled leave of doctors and the staff till May 6.
Squally winds and rains hit Kolkata leading to waterlogging and traffic congestion.
Coastal areas of the state also experienced heavy rains along with strong winds.
"The eye of the storm is likely to be weakened when it enters West Bengal. The wind speed will be around 100 kmph to 110 kmph," an official of the meteorological department said.
Moderate to heavy rains lashed various parts of the city, causing heavy traffic congestion in north and south Kolkata.