RDreaded Phailin claimed nine lives, while it damaged 15,000 houses and standing paddy crops over vast acres of land. At the same time, it created flash floods in Kanas block sending the district administration in to a tizzy. About 38,000 people of 43 villages under nine gram panchayats were estimated to be affected by the flood. A massive rescue and relief operation was underway.
According to reports, a breach in the embankments of the river Malaguni flooded Baku, Balabhadrapur, Deipur, Adal, Chupuri, Divyasinghpur, Nuapara, Kadua and Dokanda, nine gram panchayats in Kanas block on Monday.
The villages under the flood waters remained inaccessible till Tuesday while the residents were being rescued and escorted to relief camps set up by the administration. Several boats were pressed into service to rescue the victims, while relief work was in steady progress. The rescued villagers were being provided flattened rice, molasses, drinking water and medicines. The relief camps would continue for 14 days. Efforts were on to provide cooked food in the relief camp.
The cyclone claimed nine lives, while official figures put it at four. According to official reports, in Delang block, two persons were killed due to wall collapse and one each in Kanas and Puri Sadar blocks died as tree fell over them. Unofficial sources said two each in Nimapara and Brahmagiri and one in Satyabadi were killed too for one reason or the other during the cyclone.
Sea waves entered into Keutajanga village breaching luna Gheri bund under the Astaranga block. Similarly, tidal waters entered into Abadhan gram panchayat of Kakatpur block. While the sea waves damaged scores of houses, residents escaped unhurt as they were taken to safe places earlier.
Almost all the residents living in low-lying areas along the coast had been persuaded to move to the cyclone shelters. Meanwhile, they had kept returning back as situation was limping back to normalcy in a few parts of the district. Senior officers were camping at the site to supervise the relief and rescue operation.