Cyclone Phailin wreaks havoc -23 died

Akshaya Kumar Sahoo, Deccan Chronicle, 14th Oct 2013, Bhubaneswar: Cyclone Phailin, which was categorised as “very severe”, may have weakened to a depression, but its fury is not over yet.

Trucks overturned after the cyclone passed over Rambha of Ganjam, Odhisa - PTI

Major rivers in Odisha are in spate due to Phailin-propelled heavy rains in their upper and lower catchments.

The cyclone left a trail of destruction, knocking down lakhs of homes, affecting nearly 90 lakh people and destroying paddy crops worth about Rs 2,400 crore, but Odisha and Andhra Pradesh escaped from widespread loss of life.

As the largest evacuation efforts in the country’s recent history helped keep casualties to the minimum, reports from the two states said that 23 people died, out of which 21 were from Odisha. Most of the casualties were caused by wall collapse, uprooted trees and in floods.

According to M. Mohapatra, scientist (cyclone warning division) of the Meteorology Department, the “cyclonic storm” has now turned to a “deep depression” with a wind speed of 45-55 kmph.

It currently lies over northern Chhattisgarh, parts of Odisha and Jharkhand. It is expected to weaken further. The IMD said, however, that as the cyclone moves northwest, Bihar will get heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours and Nepal in the next 72 hours.

This could lead to swelling of rivers and a “flood-like situation” in Bihar. The Bihar government has already been alerted about this. 

A Panama-registered cargo ship, MV Bingo, carrying iron ore was reported to have sunk in the rough seas in the impact of the cyclone off the coast of West Bengal, but the crew were spotted in a lifeboat by a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft. The Coast Guard managed to rescue 19 Chinese and one Indonesian crewmen of the ship.

18 houses flattened in AP

Around 18 houses were flattened while 53 others were partially damaged in Srikakulam district.

The sole person who died in AP was Ch. Mutyalu, 60, who died when a wall collapsed on him at Boddedupeta of Mandapalli in Icchhapuram mandal.

National Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman M. Shashidhar Reddy said, “Loss of lives has been minimised. All the national highways have been reo-pened after clearing the fallen trees.

Kutcha houses along the coastline of Odisha and parts of AP were damaged.” “Trees  uprooted in several areas, power lines were cut off and telecom services were disrupted. There has been extensive damage to crops. The damage in terms of area and value will be known later after assessment at the ground,” he said.

Assistant meteorologist (aviation and weather forecast) M. Narasimha Rao said, “As Phailin moved away, the wind’s effect will be felt slightly for a few more hours.”

The highest rainfall was in Balimundali in Odisha, around 31 cm, followed by Banki, 38 cm. Ranpur, Jaipur, Mundali, Hindol, Bangirposhi, Banpur, Mohana and Korai received more than 20 cm of rainfall.

On Sunday, Phailin weakened into a deep depression over north Chhattisgarh and adjoining Odisha and Jharkhand. “Phailin over Odisha moved northwards with speeds of 20 kmph. It then weakened further into a deep depression and lay centred at North Chhattisgarh. It will then move north-northeastwards and weaken gradually into a depression during the

next 12 hours,” said Narasimha Rao.

“There is no rainfall warning for AP. Rainfall may occur at  places with isolated heavy rains over interior Odisha, North Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand during the next 12 hours. Rainfall may occur over Bihar, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim in the next 48 hours,” said Rao.