In total, about 800,000 people are expected to be evacuated from low-lying areas of Odisha to cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings, authorities said.
Business
Standard : India has evacuated more than 200,000 people along
its northeast coastline by boat, bus and train ahead of a severe
cyclone due to make landfall on Friday, with many villagers piling
household possessions on to trucks before fleeing their homes.
Severe
cyclonic
storm Fani was lying in the Bay of Bengal about 420 km (260
miles) south-southwest of the Hindu temple town of Puri where special
trains were put on to evacuate tourists and the beaches were empty.
In
total, about 800,000 people are expected to be evacuated from
low-lying areas of Odisha to cyclone shelters, schools and other
buildings, authorities said.
“We
are maximising efforts at all levels for evacuation,” Odisha’s
Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi told Reuters.
Fani
was generating maximum sustained winds of 170-180 km (105-111 miles)
per hour, the state-run India Meteorological Department said. Cyclone
tracker Tropical Storm Risk rated Fani a mid-range category 3 storm.
Authorities
have also shut down operations at two major ports - Paradip and
Visakhapatnam - and ships have been ordered to move out to avoid
damage.
In
Paradip, television footage showed residents piling bicycles, sewing
machines and gas cylinders on to small trucks and leaving for any of
nearly 900 shelters supplied with food, water and medicines.
Odisha
state government has deployed hundreds of disaster management
personnel, closed schools and colleges and asked doctors and other
health officials not to go on leave until May 15.
India’s
cyclone season can last from April to December, when severe storms
batter coastal cities and cause widespread deaths and damage to crops
and property in both India and neighbouring Bangladesh.
Technological
advancements have helped meteorologists to predict weather patterns
well in advance, giving authorities more time to prepare.
In
1999, a super-cyclone battered the coast of Odisha for 30 hours,
killing 10,000 people. A mass evacuation of nearly a million people
saved thousands of lives in 2013.
The
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has sent 50 teams across four
coastal states, including Odisha. The NDRF has also put 32 teams
equipped with boats, tree cutters, medical supplies, telecoms gear
and other equipment on standby.
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