Severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ move closer to the eastern coast

A massive operation launched in Odisha to evacuate over eight lakh people from low-lying coastal areas as the extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ move closer to the eastern coast. 3 special trains started for evacuation .

A massive operation has been launched in Odisha to evacuate over eight lakh people from low-lying coastal areas…as the extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ moved closer to the eastern coast.
As per IMD, Fani lay centred over West Central Bay of Bengal about 430 km south-southwest of Puri in Odisha, 225 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and 650 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal.

It is likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Odisha coast near Puri on May 3 evening, with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph, and gusting up to 200 kmph ….Navy, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard have been put on high alert to meet Railways has cancelled 81 trains and diverted two more in view of cyclone “Fani”, which is likely to affect 19 districts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, besides Kolkata. The railways said that it will grant full refund to passengers for the cancelled or diverted trains if the tickets are produced for cancellation within three days from scheduled date of journey.

Cyclonic storm Fani has intensified and turned into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, which will be hitting the Odisha coast with wind speed around 200 kmph.

NDRF, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire service have been sent to vulnerable areas to assist the administration .

Arrangements have been made to start free kitchens to provide cooked food to the evacuees .

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea in this period. Tourists have been asked to leave Puri by Thursday evening .

Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik reviewed preparedness measures including deployment of response forces. Noting that every life is precious, the chief minister directed the administration to evacuate all people from vulnerable areas. He also asked local administrations to run free kitchens

District Magistrate of Puri Jyoti Prakash Das said that the administration is planning to evacuate around 1,25,000 people to the safe areas as cyclone ‘Fani’ is approaching. In the process 19,000 people have already been evacuated to the cyclone centres in the process. Personnel of National Disaster Response Force, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire service have been deployed in vulnerable areas to assist the administration.

The Odisha government has declared holiday at schools and colleges in the state in anticipation of the oncoming cyclonic storm.