It is classified as a Severe Cyclonic Storm. The India Meteorological Department's (IMD), latest bulletin says it originated over east central Bay of Bengal and has now intensified as it moved Northwestwards 800km southeast of Paradip, and 870 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam
Originated from an area of low pressure over the Andaman Sea, Cyclone Phailin would move close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by evening of 12th October with a maximum sustained wind speed of 175-185 kmph, the IMD said
Coastal Odisha should expect heavy, very heavy and isolated areas of extremely heavy rainfall starting saturday morning.The storm will continue and extend to interior Odisha and coastal areas of Gangetic West Bengal from Sunday morning.Heavy to very heavy rainfall would also occur at a few places over the north coast of Andhra Pradesh commencing from Saturday, October 12. Very heavy rainfall would occur over coastal areas of West Bengal from Sunday, October 13.Extensive damage is expected to kutcha houses and agricultural crops. The cyclone would also lead to partial disruption of power and communication lines
The cyclonic storm, Phailin, over east central Bay of Bengal has intensified further into a cylconic storm and lay centred 850 km southeast of Paradip and 950 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam at 5.30 am on Thursday Oct 10,2013
It is predicted to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours and will continue to move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip late on Saturday October 12 with a maximum sustained wind speed of 175-185 kmph
Landfall on Saturday Oct 12,2013
Cyclone Phailin made landfall later that day, near Gopalpur in Odisha coast at around 2130 IST (1600 UTC). It subsequently weakened over land as a result of frictional forces, before it was last noted on October 14, as it degenerated into a well marked area of low pressure.
Cyclone Phailin to be one of the strongest cyclones to hit India: US experts
The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Friday said Phailin is now expected to break the Indian Ocean intensity record set by the 1999 Cyclone in which at least 9,000 people were killed in Orissa
In its latest bulletin, JTWC said the extremely dangerous Tropical Cyclone Phailin has maintained Category five strength for six hours, and is expected to remain a Category 5 storm until it is just a few hours from landfall on the northeast coast of India on the Bay of Bengal.
While strengthening, the storm has grown to nearly half the size of India itself.
Cyclonic storm Phailin, the strongest to hit India in more than a decade and classified as 'very severe' so far, is closing in towards coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at wind speeds averaging 200-210 km per hour and is expected to hit the two states between 6 pm and 8 pm on Saturday Oct 12,2013 and the touchdown will trigger very heavy rainfall in coastal Odisha and northern coast of Andhra Pradesh
The storm, likely to affect around 1.2 crore people, has triggered mass exodus in at least seven districts of the two states
All trains on the Howrah-Visakhapatnam route have been cancelled. The trains are likely to be cancelled tomorrow as well
High wind and heavy rain lashed the coastal belt of Odisha on Saturday Oct 12,2013 disrupting normal life, as 'very severe' cyclonic storm Phailin advances from the Bay of Bengal
Preparations in Orissa to tackle Cyclone Phailin
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the Centre asking for Air Force and Naval units to be placed on alert for rescue and relief operations
The Chief Minister also held a meeting of the State Cabinet to take stock of the situation and finalise the strategy to tackle the situation. The State Government had also asked for deployment of the National Disaster Rapid Action Force (NDRAF) along with Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF)
The state government has made elaborate preparations to meet any eventualities, and directed collectors of 14 cyclone-prone districts to deploy relief and rescue officials at vulnerable points
Round-the-clock control rooms have been activated in the district headquarters towns, including in the highly cyclone-prone Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Ganjam, Puri and Kendrapada
The Centre has deployed Central Reserve Police Force jawans in three vulnerable districts of Odisha - Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda. 23 cyclone centres and more than 100 shelter homes have been set up in the seven districts likely to be most affected. 1600 National Disaster Response Force or NDRF personnel have been dispatched, with 600 of them manning 37 rescue boats
Paradip and Gopalpur ports have been shut. Paradip, one of the 12 major ports in the country, serves the eastern and central parts of the country
The coastal districts likely to be hit by the impending cyclone in Orissa are -
- Balasore
- Bhadrak
- Mayurbhanj
- Keonjhar
- Dhenkanal
- Jajpur
- Cuttack
- Kendrapara
- Jagatsinghpur
- Puri
- Khurda
- Nayagarh
- Ganjam and
- Gajapati.
The cyclone is 400 km southeast of Gopalpur in Ganjam district where it is expected to make landfall at 6 pm on Saturday and 400 km south-southeast of Paradip, the latest IMD bulletin said.
Officials said clearing, forwarding, loading and unloading operations have been suspended at Paradip port and seven vessels have been shifted to the sea from the dockyard area.
The cyclone is 410 km east south east of Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, The IMD said.
Around three columns or 300 personnel of the army's engineering wing are en route to the state and 12 air force helicopters are ready at the Barrackpore airbase in neighbouring West Bengal, Special Relief Commissioner P K Mohapatra said
Members of National Disaster Rapid Action Force (NDRAF) arrive at Bhubaneswar airport by a special Indian Air Force aeroplane for the rescue work on Friday Oct 11,2013
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inspects the packaging of relief material for the cyclone in Bhubaneswar
The Orissa Govt on Saturday Oct 12,2013 set up control rooms to make availble information, official sources said. The helpline number of the Odisha Central Control Room is 0674-2534177
The district control room mumbers are:
Mayurbhanj - 06792-252759
Jajpur - 06728-222648
Gajapati - 06815-222943
Dhenkanal - 06762-221376
Khurda 06755 - 220002
Keonjhar - 06766-255437
Cuttack - 0671-2507842
Ganjam - 06811-263978
Puri - 06752-223237
Kendrapara - 06727-232803
Jagatsinghpur - 06724-220368
Balasore - 06782-262674
Bhadrak - 06784-251881
Cyclone Phailin wreaks havoc in Odisha
The cyclone, which made its landfall near Gopalpur at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday with a wind speed reaching up to 220 km per hour, moved into the interior parts of Odisha.
The cyclone made landfall near Gopalpur-on-Sea at around 9 p.m., about 20 km away from Berhampur on Saturday, and the heavy rain and gale left behind 2.5 lakh ‘kutcha’ and ‘semi-pucca’ houses damaged and uprooting thousands of trees across roads
Massive preparedness by the Central and State agencies and precise forecasting by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) helped in minimising the loss of lives as over six lakh people had been evacuated to safer places. A total of 1,073 relief camps in Odisha and 135 in Andhra Pradesh were opened
Ganjam Collector Kishan Kumar said that from Saturday afternoon onwards, an estimated 1.82 lakh people were evacuated and the total number of those accommodated at cyclone shelters as of Sunday was pegged at 3.5 lakh
Seventeen persons were killed as the very severe cyclonic storm, Phailin, hit the Odisha coast near Gopalpur in Ganjam district late on Saturday evening, Special Relief Commissioner P.K. Mohapatra toldSix persons were killed in Ganjam while three each were killed in Puri and Balasore districts, two in Nayagarh and one each in Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and Bhadrak
Lakhs of trees were uprooted in these districts, major roads were being cleared by the administration with the help of the National Disaster Rapid Action Force and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force
Electricity supply was badly affected in most of the affected areas. Power supply was likely to resume in a day or two
In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, normal life continues to remain out of gear as uprooted trees blocked many roads
Since Sunday morning, 48 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with army personnel deployed in the two States, have been clearing roads of fallen trees, electricity and communication poles
Cyclone Phailin has left a trail of destruction killing at least 23 people, knocking down lakhs of houses and affecting over 1 crore people in Odisha
Most of the casualties were caused by wall collapse, uprooted trees and in floods
A cyclone-hit family is seen near their damaged house, at Gopalpur in Odisha
Fallen trees, uprooted electric poles and broken walls could be seen at various places in Berhampur. Walls of the City Women’s College and the SBI main branch were broken. Durga mandaps put up as part of Dasara festivities collapsed near the Old Bus Stand and Khollikote College. The Rushikulya and the Bahuda rivers were in spate as the government directed officials to undertake relief and rescue operations on a war-footing.
An estimated 1.40 lakh people had been evacuated from low-lying areas to cyclone shelters and relief camps.
With over 1 crore people hit by cyclone Phailin in Odisha that left a trail of destruction, the State government on Sunday Oct 13,2013 announced food assistance packages of 14 days and 7 days for ‘very severely affected’ and ‘severely affected’ villages respectively
So far the government has identified 1,02,65,872 people as affected by the devastating cyclone
The families in very severely affected villages in need of support will be provided food assistance for 14 days. They will get 50 kg of rice and Rs. 400 cash each for dal per family
The families living in severely affected villages will get seven days relief. They will get 25 kg of rice and Rs. 200 for dal as food assistance
The fishermen, who were prevented to go into the sea for fishing because of the cyclone, will be given 10 kg of rice each for loss of livelihood
Preparations in Andhra Pradesh to tackle Cyclone Phailin
The Andhra Pradesh Govt alerted the Army and the Naval Authorities in Visakhapatnam to be ready for any help and wrote to the Defence Secretary for deployment of Air Force helicopters if necessary
Round-the-clock control rooms are being established in the coastal districts and satellite phones, ham radio sets and rescue boats pressed into service
Distant warning signal number II was hoisted at Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Nizampatnam and Krishnapatnam ports while distant warning signal number II with section signal number III was kept hoisted at Kakinada and Gangavaram ports Sudarsan Pattnaik's sand sculpture appealing for help for the victims of Phailin Cyclone at Puri beach
No comments:
Post a Comment