The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani has made landfall in Odisha’s Puri district at around 8 am this morning, triggering heavy rainfall coupled with high velocity winds with speed of 175 to 200 kmph.
Touted as one of the severe cyclones to hit Odisha in the past few decades, Fani has triggered torrential rain in several parts of the State including in Puri, Khurda, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur since last night.
AMN / WEB DESK
Three people have died as extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani made landfall in Odisha’s Puri district at around 8 am this morning. Several trees and electricity poles were uprooted leading to cut off power supply in many parts of the state. Large areas in the temple town of Puri and other places were submerged as heavy rain battered the coast, according to officials. The cyclonic storm – the strongest cyclone in India in 20 years – is weakening gradually, moving towards West Bengal.
Termed as one of the severe cyclones to hit Odisha in the past few decades, Fani has triggered torrential rain in several parts of the State including in Puri, Khurda, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur since last night. Puri town and adjoining areas were submerged with water as heavy downpours battered the entire coastal belt.
"Extensive damage to structure of AIIMS Bhubaneswar reported due to #CycloneFani . All patients,staff, students safe.Many water tanks have blown off,lighting poles are down, airconditioners damaged. We have enough supplies, ready to support the state" – Health Secy Preeti Sudan pic.twitter.com/Me1WHqZimY
— Dhirendra Ojha (@DG_PIB) May 3, 2019
In spite of extreme adverse weather, uprooted trees being removed by Ganjam Police and giving their best at Chatrapur areas. pic.twitter.com/NI43jawFrH
— SP Ganjam (@sp_ganjam) May 3, 2019
Under the impact of post-Fani cyclonic storm, extremely heavy downpour is occuring in Puri, Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur. High winds are also sweeping across several coastal districts like Ganjam, Khurda and Gajapati. Head of Cyclone at Met Department, Mrityunjay Mahapatra said that the cyclonic storm is likely to weaken to a ‘very severe’ cyclonic storm by this evening.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her election rallies for 48 hours because of Cyclone Fani. PM Modi’s election rally in Jharkhand, which was scheduled for May 5, has been postponed to May 6, said BJP’s Jharkhand unit spokesman Rajesh Kumar Shukla. BJP chief Amit Shah’s and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s rallies in Jharkhand today too have been cancelled.
The cyclone has left a trail of destruction after it hit the landmass. Thousand of trees, electric poles were uprooted and thatched houses destroyed at some places including Bhubaneswar and Jagatsinghpur. Mobile network has been fully disrupted in Puri and other areas under the impact of the cyclonic storm.
Many areas in Bhubaneswar have been devastated with thousands of trees uprooted. Communication system is severely hit. There is no power supply in Bhubaneswar. At least five persons were killed at various places across the state under the impact of Fani. Three persons were killed due to rain related incidents in Puri district while a woman died in Nayagarh district.
A 70-year-old woman of Rajnagar block in Kendrapara district was killed at a cyclone shelter. The reason of her death is still unknown. The State government undertook a massive operation and evacuated around 11 lakh people to safety in 13 districts and have been accommodated in over 4,200 shelters, including 880 specially designed cyclone centres.
NDRF Director General said, 81 teams of NDRF have been deployed along the affected coast line. 28 teams have been deployed in Odisha, 6 teams are pre-deployed and pre-positioned in West Bengal with 12 on standby there.
Similarly 12 teams are deployed in the coastal area of Andhra Pradesh with 6 on standby. The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and Air Force units in the three States have also been put on standby.
The Home Ministry’s Control Room helpline number for Cyclone Fani 1938 is operational to provide the latest information. Odisha’s emergency helpline number for Cyclone Fani is 06742534177.
The Railways has also released helpline numbers : Bhubaneswar- (0674-2303060), for Puri it is – 06752-225922, for Cuttack it is – 0671-2201865. The East Coast Railways today again cancelled another 10 trains, passing through Odisha. Earlier the Railways had cancelled 147 trains between May 2 and May 4.