The extremely severe cyclone Fani battered the Odisha coast, with a wind speed of 175 to 200 km per hour after landfall at Puri on Friday morning. The storm has so far claimed eight lives and caused a severe damage to property and public infrastructure in 13 coastal districts of the state.
At least three people were reported to have been killed in Puri, besides another three in the Bhubaneswar region, and one each in Kendrapara and Nayagarh.
Thousands of collapsed kutcha houses, and uprooted trees and electricity poles disrupting road travel and electricity supply were all a bitter reminiscence of the super cyclone of 1999, one of the worst calamities in the state’s history that claimed over 10,000 lives.
Though the loss of human lives this time was much less than in 1999, overall losses on account of shifting 1.08 million people to safer places before the Fani struck and the damage to infrastructure were no less, said a government official. More than 500,000 trees were uprooted in Khurda and Puri districts alone.
ALSO READ: Cyclone Fani LIVE: Bhubaneshwar flights expected to resume by Saturday
Mobile towers were blown away at many places, disrupting telecommunication. All fixed-line and cellular phones were down in Puri district, said Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi. Amid incessant rains accompanied by gusty wind, many parts of coastal Odisha were inundated by flood water.
"More than 100,000 electric poles have been ravaged in Puri and Khurda districts. Not a single electric pole is standing in Puri in the aftermath of the cyclone. The restoration of power will take longer than what we had anticipated. In Bhubaneswar and Puri, the transmission infrastructure needs to be relaid. No assessment of monetary damage has been made yet," said Hemant Sharma, secretary (energy) in the Odisha government.
The absence of electricity plunged many towns, including capital Bhubaneswar, into darkness as the evening fell. The effect was worse on low-tension lines that feed the domestic power consumers, an official said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a high-level meeting of senior officials in various departments this evening and directed them to undertake immediate relief and restoration work on a war footing in affected areas.
ALSO READ: Severity of cyclones in Bay of Bengal on the rise, say scientists
Summer crops, orchards and plantations had been devastated at a large scale, government sources told Business Standard.
With heavy downpour continuing in the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a storm surge of about 0.5 to one metre above the astronomical tide might inundate the low-lying areas of Kendrapada, Bhadrak Jagatsinghpur and Balasore districts, even as the extremely severe cyclonic storm dissipates into a severe one on its way to West Bengal.
In view of safety and security of passengers, the East Coast Railways has cancelled 56 more trains. The regional railway had earlier announced the cancellation of 169 trains and diverted several others. All flight operations to and from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar have also been stopped until tomorrow.
At least three people were reported to have been killed in Puri, besides another three in the Bhubaneswar region, and one each in Kendrapara and Nayagarh.
Thousands of collapsed kutcha houses, and uprooted trees and electricity poles disrupting road travel and electricity supply were all a bitter reminiscence of the super cyclone of 1999, one of the worst calamities in the state’s history that claimed over 10,000 lives.
Though the loss of human lives this time was much less than in 1999, overall losses on account of shifting 1.08 million people to safer places before the Fani struck and the damage to infrastructure were no less, said a government official. More than 500,000 trees were uprooted in Khurda and Puri districts alone.
ALSO READ: Cyclone Fani LIVE: Bhubaneshwar flights expected to resume by Saturday
Mobile towers were blown away at many places, disrupting telecommunication. All fixed-line and cellular phones were down in Puri district, said Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi. Amid incessant rains accompanied by gusty wind, many parts of coastal Odisha were inundated by flood water.
"More than 100,000 electric poles have been ravaged in Puri and Khurda districts. Not a single electric pole is standing in Puri in the aftermath of the cyclone. The restoration of power will take longer than what we had anticipated. In Bhubaneswar and Puri, the transmission infrastructure needs to be relaid. No assessment of monetary damage has been made yet," said Hemant Sharma, secretary (energy) in the Odisha government.
The absence of electricity plunged many towns, including capital Bhubaneswar, into darkness as the evening fell. The effect was worse on low-tension lines that feed the domestic power consumers, an official said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a high-level meeting of senior officials in various departments this evening and directed them to undertake immediate relief and restoration work on a war footing in affected areas.
ALSO READ: Severity of cyclones in Bay of Bengal on the rise, say scientists
Summer crops, orchards and plantations had been devastated at a large scale, government sources told Business Standard.
With heavy downpour continuing in the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a storm surge of about 0.5 to one metre above the astronomical tide might inundate the low-lying areas of Kendrapada, Bhadrak Jagatsinghpur and Balasore districts, even as the extremely severe cyclonic storm dissipates into a severe one on its way to West Bengal.
In view of safety and security of passengers, the East Coast Railways has cancelled 56 more trains. The regional railway had earlier announced the cancellation of 169 trains and diverted several others. All flight operations to and from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar have also been stopped until tomorrow.
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