Cyclone Phailin: Over 5 Lakh evacuated in Odisha and Andhra, 5 killed

Gopalpur(Odisha)/Srikakulam(AP): Cyclone ‘Phailin', said to be the strongest cyclonic storm to hit the region, was this evening hurtling towards coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, where over 5.25 lakh people have been evacuated .At least five people were killed as high windspeeds and heavy rain hit Gopalpur in Odisha's Ganjam district ahead of Cyclone Phailin's landfall. Three persons, including a woman, were killed after uprooted trees fell on them in the state capital and at Khalikote and Polsara in Ganjam district, police sources said. Army, IAF, Navy, CRPF and National Disaster Response Force were positioned in areas vulnerable to the cyclone which is centred around 150 km southeast of Gopalpur and 260 km southeast of Paradip.Water entered the Arjipalli Marine Police Station on the sea shore at Gopalpur following which the policemen were asked to evacuate, DIG southern range Amitav Thakur told PTI. He said police officials were going from house-to-house to ensure people of Gopalpur were shifted to safety. There was some difficulty in persuading fishermen to shift as they did not want to be evacuated, the DIG said. Of the total 3.61 lakh people evacuated in the last 24 hours, 1.2 lakh were from Ganjam district alone, Revenue and Disaster Management minister S N Patro said. Besides Ganjam, 80,000 people in Puri district, 16,380 in Khurda district, 56,998 in Jagatsingh district, 16,000 in Kendrapara district, 14,205 in Bhadrak district, 1950 in Balasore district, 46,409 in Cuttack district, 1,235 in Nayagarh district and 8,000 in Gajapati district were moved to safety, Patro said.Squally wind speeds reaching 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph would prevail along and off Odisha coast during the next six hours.“It would increase in intensity with gale speed reaching 210-220 kmph gusting to 240 kmph along and off the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Kendrapara of coastal Odisha at the time of landfall,” a Met bulletin said.Storm surge with a height of 3 to 3.5 meters above astronomical tide is feared which could inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha during landfall.Phailin is likely to maintain the intensity of a very severe cyclonic storm for six hours and gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm in subsequent six hours while moving northwestwards across interior Odisha. All trains between Howrah and Visakhapatnam have been suspended and power supply switched off along the Odisha coastline, and three coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh as a precautionary measure.Flights and trains from Odisha capital Bhubaneshwar have also been suspended.At least 10 flights of Air India, Indigo and Jet Airways scheduled to arrive or take off from the airport here remained cancelled, director of Biju Patnaik International Airport Sarad Kumar told PTI.The government braced for the deadly cyclone, the strongest since the one in 1999 that wreaked havoc in Odisha, leaving at least 9,000 people dead.“Our main focus is to avoid loss of human life. So far we have evacuated 4.25 lakh people in Odisha and 1 lakh more in Andhra Pradesh,” Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami told reporters in Delhi.Most of the evacuated people have been sheltered in 500 specially-built cyclone camps in the two states. Each cyclone shelter can accommodate up to 1,500 people while their ground floors may be used as cattle shelters.Met officials said the impact of cyclone Phailin would be highest during the night and gradually come down from dawn. The National Disaster Management Authority said it had deployed nearly 2,000 National Disaster Response Force personnel in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Five lakh tonnes of foodgrains has been kept ready for distribution to the people in the affected region.“We are ready with 5 lakh tonnes of foodgrains for distribution to cyclone-affected people in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha,” Union Food Minister K V Thomas said. With a wind speed of 210-220 kmph, the tides could rise up to 3.5 meters and sea water could enter 300-600 meters in land, the IMD said.Rains will also lash parts of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, East UP and Bihar.

Cyclone Phailin: Over 5 Lakh evacuated in Odisha and Andhra, 5 killed

Gopalpur(Odisha)/Srikakulam(AP): Cyclone ‘Phailin', said to be the strongest cyclonic storm to hit the region, was this evening hurtling towards coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, where over 5.25 lakh people have been evacuated .At least five

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