Over 5 Lakh evacuated as Phailin closes in

mangaloretoday.com

Gopalpur(Odisha)/Srikakulam(AP), Oct 12 , 2013,(PTI) :  Rain and wind lashed forcing more than 400,000 people to flee to storm shelters as one of the country’s largest cyclones closed in, threatening to cut a wide swathe of devastation through farmland and fishing hamlets. Filling most of the Bay of Bengal, Cyclone Phailin was about 200 km (124 miles) offshore by noon on Saturday, satellite images showed, and was expected to hit land by nightfall. REUTERS

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 three persons were killed as strong winds ranging around 80 kmph accompanied with heavy downpour uprooted trees in several parts of Odisha, where the cyclone is set to make landfall near Gopalpur and in Kalingapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, by 8 PM.

 

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.

With Phailin closing in, water level along the Odisha coast was swelling. Heavy to very heavy rains were reported from the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Kendrapara in coastal region.

"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.

 

SCR has set up helpline numbers at major stations like Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Kazipet, Warangal, Khammam and Manchiryal railway stations for passengers to seek information regarding movement of trains.

The help line numbers are as follows:-

Vijayawada:    0866-2575038
Rajahmundry:   0883-2420541, 2420543
Kazipet:       0870-2548660
Warangal:      0870-2426232 
Khammam:       08742-256025
Manchiryal:    08736-250081