Cyclone Fani makes landfall, wreaks havoc in Odisha

Extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani made landfall on the eastern coast wreaking havoc in Odisha on Friday. Despite extensive damage cuased by near 200 kmph winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall, no loss of life has been reported so far.

Damaging houses, thousands of trees and electricity poles, uprooting trees, the eye of Fani almost 25 km in diametre is sending off wind velocity of 150 to 175 kmph and even above at some places touching 180 or more, said the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

The eye of the cyclone which was even an hour back party over the Bay of Bengal has completely moved inland. 

The cyclone started crossing into the Odisha coast close to Puri between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Friday. The process of landfall will continue till 1 p.m.

The cyclone has completely thrown normal life out of gear with heavy to very heavy rains lashing the coastal districts since Thursday night.

The road network in several districts suffered extensive damage. The power distribution network has also been severely affected. Asbestos sheets of temporary housing facilities have been ripped off.

Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said they have received reports regarding uprooting of trees in some areas while there was no reports of loss of lives so far.

A 65-year-old woman died at a cyclone shelter in Devendranarayanpur under Rajnagar block of Kendrapara. However, the cause of death is unknown, said sources.

About a million people were evacuated to safer places in Odisha due to the cyclonic storm.

Met department said while strong winds will continue to blow for next couple of hours, heavy rainfall will continue across the state.

"The process of cyclone Fani's landfall in Puri will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.," said Bhubaneswar Met Centre Director H.R. Biswas.

It's eye diameter was put at 28 km at around 9 a.m. Half of Fani's eye was in the sea then, the IMD said.

The already rough sea in Puri is turbulant. Evacuation has been carried out till 5 km of the beach area. Even the calm sea in Chandipur is violent, officials said.

It is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, south of Puri during May 3 forenoon with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph gusting to 200 kmph.

Nearly 11 lakh people have been evacuated from the vulnerable areas to safer places in last 24 hours in Odisha. Ganjam and Puri districts have evacuated more than 3 lakh and 1.3 lakh people, respectively.

Although the evacuation were extremely difficult given that people were not ready to laeve their house and belongings. Relief workers had a tough time, speaking to news channels several complained.

The Indian Navy warships -- Sahyadri, Ranvir and Kadmatt -- are on stand-by with relief materials and medical teams.

Other naval vessels are also on stand-by at Vishakhapattanam. Naval divers teams have moved to Odisha from Vishakhapattanam.

The cities of Puri, Paradip, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur have been experiencing rains since Thursday.

Strong winds measuring up to 174 kmph lashed Chilika early on Friday uprooting trees.

The highest number of people -- 3 lakh -- were evacuated from Ganjam district while 1.3 lakh others from Puri district, said an official from the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office.

About 10,000 villages and 52 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were likely to be affected by the cyclonic storm.

The state government has advised people not to step out of their houses. 

As a precautionary measure, all shops, business establishments, private and government offices will remain closed in 11 coastal districts.

Flight operations were suspended in Bhubaneswar's Biju Patnaik Airport from Friday midnight. IANS