Thousands flee ‘intense’ storm
BHUBANESWAR, India — Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated parts of India’s eastern coast Thursday as an “extremely severe” cyclone moved north through the Bay of Bengal, bringing fears of widespread destruction from heavy rain, powerful winds and storm surge in low-lying areas.
Cyclone Fani, classified by meteorologists as the equivalent of a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, was expected to hit the coast Friday after churning through the bay, which has produced many of the world’s deadliest tropical cyclones. By late Thursday, the World Meteorological Organization said the storm had winds of about 124 mph, making it “one of the most intense storms in 20 years” in the region.
Tens of millions of people are potentially in the path of what the India Meteorological Department called an “extremely severe cyclonic storm.” Not long after 11:30 p.m. in Puri, India, satellite data from the department showed outer bands of the storm battering the Indian coastline as the storm’s eye moved north.
In the beach village of Chandrabhaga, police helped residents move from thatched-roof homes to a nearby storm shelter Thursday afternoon. They sat on the floor of the shelter or in plastic chairs awaiting the arrival of the storm. By evening, the sea had turned rough and strong winds were lashing buildings along the coast.
The meteorological department warned of the “total destruction” of thatched huts in some districts, major damage to roads, the uprooting of power poles and potential danger from flying objects.
Indian authorities said the storm could be the most powerful to strike India since 1999, when a cyclone killed more than 10,000 people in the same region of eastern India. But authorities in the region have significantly improved disaster preparation and response capabilities in the years since, and subsequent major storms have resulted in far fewer deaths.
Cyclone Fani is forecast to drop as much as 8 inches of rain on northern parts of the state of Andhra Pradesh and on the state of Odisha. The storm is expected to continue north, hitting the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Bhutan, as well as parts of the Indian states of West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. Airports in its path were closing and hundreds of trains have been canceled.
“I appeal to everyone that the children, women, old and disabled be evacuated first,” Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha, said Wednesday, Indian media reported. “All precautions have been taken to face the cyclone. We are fully prepared to tackle the cyclone Fani.”
Patnaik said that about 800,000 people were expected to be moved to safer places by Thursday evening.
More than 850 storm shelters have been opened along Odisha’s coast, said Bishnupada Sethi, the state’s special relief commissioner. Each can hold about 1,000 people, along with livestock.
Authorities have been preparing for the storm since Saturday when forecasts first indicated its strength and possible path, Sethi said. The state’s disaster relief department has been using television, loudspeakers, radio and text messages to warn residents about the dangers of the storm.