The extremely severe cyclone storm, ‘Fani’, has left behind a trail of devastation akin to that of 1999 Super Cyclone in three districts of Odisha. The pilgrim town of Puri is cut off from outer world.
While there are unconfirmed reports of three deaths, Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi who is overseeing the rescue and relief operation confirmed about one death, which took place in Kendrapara district.
“State Forest and Environment Secretary Suresh Mohapatra who was contacted over satellite phone said roads to Puri have been blocked by uprooted trees and cellular services have been completely snapped. We are sending additional teams to expedite rescue operation,” said Mr. Sethi.
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“It was heartening to note that people had responded to our request of self-evacuation. Puri is worst affected by the cyclone. The damage could have been more, had we not forcibly evacuated 25000 tourists from Puri,” he said.
The SRC said the extent of damage is being ascertained. Meanwhile, according to office of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, the cyclone crossed Odisha coast close to Puri from 8 am to 10 am with the maximum wind speed of 175 kmph. There after the system moved to Khordha district with high wind speed and heavy rainfall before moving northwards to Cuttack.
“A large number of trees were uprooted resulting in disruption in road communication and power supply in different districts. There is also extensive damage to dwelling houses. Power supply has been snapped due to the uprooting of electricity poles and damage to substations and high tension overhead electric line. Telecom towers have been damaged resulting in disruption of cellular and landline telephones,” said Chief Secretary’s office. Summer crops, orchards and plantations are devastated in a big way.
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The devastation witnessed in Bhubaneswar is as worst as the 1999 Super Cyclone had caused. The State Legislative Assembly, State Secretariat, Governor’s House and Chief Minister’s residence could not be accessed for a few hours after the cyclone crossed over the city. Even two entrance roads to Biju Patanaik International Airport were blocked by huge hoardings.
There was chaos all around. People were confined to their respective houses as streets and sub-streets were blocked by uprooted trees. As it seems that there is less possibility of power being restored before 24 hours, people have already started demanding supply of water. The green cover over Bhubaneswar has been wiped out.
A crane installed at the premises of a high-rise building that was under construction near the Raghanathpur area collapsed. The failure of telecom services also added to the chaos.
The storm surge of about 0.5 meter height above astronomical tide is very likely to inundate low lying areas of Kendrapara, Balasore and Bhadrak during next 12 hours, warned Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre.