The spectre of Cyclone Hudhud is haunting the people of Jajpur district.
“The administration has instructed the Block Development Officers to stock flattened rice, biscuits, drinking water, kerosene and other essential items for any emergency,” said collector Anil Kumar Samal on Wednesday.
The administration, through public announcement system, is asking people not to panic. However, large numbers of frightened villagers are preparing to shift to safer places.
People are making long queues before shops to purchase essential commodities. Many traders have hoarded potato and the price of this essential vegetable has gone up.
Only three months back large numbers of villagers of the district faced floods and they are now worried about another calamity, the cyclone.
“My three-room house had collapsed in the floods. Recently, I managed to repair the house. Now I am worried about the Cyclone Hudhud,” said Banshidhar Sethi of Dasarathapur.
Fearing the cyclone, many workers of the Kalinganagar industrial areas have started leaving their workplaces.