Cyclone Phailin, the most ferocious in the last two decades, slammed Odisha coast on Saturday night with wind speeds of more than 200 km per hour and lashing rains. The State Government, in one of the world’s largest evacuations, pulled out more than 6.91 lakh people to safe places. Five people were killed when uprooted trees fell on them and cyclone triggered tides affecting Paradip and Gopalpur.
The cyclone hit Odisha coast near Gopalpur at about 9.25 pm with wind speeds of 200 km per hour and while it was yet to hit coastal Andhra Pradesh, heavy rainfall was reported from northern part of the State. The districts in Odisha likely to experience tidal surge leading to floods following the cyclone are Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara.
Eighteen fishermen were reported trapped around four km from Paradip in the sea on a fishing trawler. Though they contacted the Coast Guard, rescue operations could not be conducted as the sea is extremely rough, officials said.
More than 3.61 lakh people have already been evacuated from the six coastal districts of Odisha. 1.2 lakh people have been shifted from the coastal belt of Ganjam and Gopalpur areas. Reports from Puri said sea water gushed into Tandaghar and Keutajanga villages of Astarang and Brahmagiri blocks in the district on Friday evening, even as the administration shifted people to safer places.
As regards Andhra Pradesh, authorities have evacuated more than 1,00,000 people from low lying areas in three coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatanam. They have been accommodated in the cyclone shelters and other concrete buildings including school and Government office buildings.
The outer periphery of the very cyclonic storm had already started touching the mainland coast in the two States, heavy rains and powerful winds in the coastal districts have thrown the normal life out of gear. Even the people in major towns including port city of Visakhapatanam have been strictly ordered to stay in doors till the storm passes over. As a precautionary measure, the administration had ordered all the business establishments, offices and shops to remain closed throughout the day on Saturday. The Indian Meteorological Department has warned that the region will experience winds of up to 210 to 220 kms per hour gusting upto 230 to 240 kms per our when the storm hits the coast.
“If the cyclone sustained the speed at 220 kms, then it will be categorized as Super Cyclone,” said Indian Metrological Director General, lK Rathore. Many coastal areas of Srikakualm, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatanam have started feeling the impact of the coast by afternoon and the sea entered fishing villages up to 100 meters at some places.
The major roads and highways were closed for the traffic. Several trains on the lines passing through three coastal districts and going towards Odisha have been cancelled. Similarly some flights between Visakhpatanam and Bhubaneshwar were also closed.Authorities have warned that the heavy to very heavy rainfall can also cause flooding and overflowing of rivulets and rivers in the region.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, after a review meeting with the officials said, “We have completed all the preparations to deal with the situation. We are informed that the cyclone was very severe and now we are praying that the damages are minimum.” He appealed to the people not to get panicky and cooperate with the officials in evacuation and other precautionary measures.
Of the 22,994 boats which had gone into the sea for fishing, only 22 had not returned and efforts were on to establish their whereabouts, he said. Fishermen were also worried that the powerful cyclone can damage or wash away the boats, their source of livelihood.
“The Indian Navy, Army, Air Force, and National Disaster Relief Force were ready to help,” the Chief Minister said. The State Government has also enlisted the help of ham radio operators to step in if the powerful winds disrupt the routine communication networks. “Cyclone intensity is very high but we are also well prepared to face the situation”, the Chief Minister said.
The cyclone impact has already uprooted trees and the electricity poles creating hurdles for the traffic. Electricity supply has also been switched off in Srikakulam, Vjayanagaram and Visakhapatanam.
Authorities were also keeping a close watch on the situation in the neighboring East and West Godavari districts. Revenue Minister N Raghuveera Reddy who reached Srikakulam on Saturday afternoon held a review meeting with the officials. He asked the officials to focus their attention on moving the people to safer places.
Andhra Pradesh Commissioner for Disaster Management T Radha told reporters that the impact of the cyclone was restricted largely to Srikakulam district, in the immediate vicinity of the point of landfall of the cyclone. “Vijayanagaram was also partially affected but there was no impact on Visakhapatanam. There was no rain or wind in Visakhapatanam,” he said.
Some part of Srikakulam experienced winds of 160 kms per hour at the time of the cyclone hitting the coast. Many trees specially the coconut and banana orchards were damaged extensively.
Power supply was disrupted in the entire north coastal Andhra region comprising of three districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagara and Visakhapatanam.
Srikakulam may also face flooding as heavy to very heavy rains were lashing in the region since Friday. Officials said that the true picture of the impact of the cyclone will emerge only after day break. Meanwhile, the Railways have cancelled all trains between Howrah and Visakhapatnam as a precautionary measure. While it had announced cancellation of some passenger trains on Friday, Railways decided to suspend movement of all trains in view of the cyclone.
The trains which have been cancelled include Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Intercity Express, Bhubaneswar- Tirupathy S/F Express, Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakha Express, Guntur-Visakhapatnam-Guntur Simhadri Express, Howrah-Bhubaneswar Janshatabdi Express, Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express and Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. While, Yesvantpur-Bhubaneswar Prasanti Express and Secunderabad-Bhubaneswar Visakha Express have been short terminated at Vishakapatnam.
The Railway administration has also decided to divert the routes of several other trains running between Howrah and Chennai. Two trains which have been diverted via Vizianagaram and Jharsuguda are Tiruchirapalli-Howrah and Chennai-Howrah Mail. The trains diverted via Chakradharpur and Bilaspur are Howrah-Chennai Falaknuma Express, Howrah-Yashvantpur Duronto Express, Haldia-Chennai S/F Express, Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express. Guwahati-Trivandrum Express has been diverted via Vizianagaram and Jharsuguda, they said.