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| Indian people watch high tide waves as they stand at the Bay of Bengal coast in Vishakhapatnam, India, Oct. 12, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of people living along India's eastern coastline were taking shelter Saturday from a massive, powerful cyclone Phai |
Strong winds and heavy rain continue to
lash eastern India, hours after Cyclone Phailin came ashore late
Saturday. Authorities say they have evacuated nearly a million people,
one of India’s largest evacuations in more than two decades.
As day broke Sunday, authorities were able to get their first opportunity to assess the impact of Phailin, after the very severe cyclone slammed into the eastern states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh with winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour.
With communication and power lines down, Orissa meteorological department chief Sharad Sahu says it will take time to fully assess the damage and casualties associated with the cyclone, particularly in the coastal town of Gopalpur.
“And now mobile [phones] are not working and our office telephone is also not working and some of the walls have collapsed there, so people are not able to collect data," Sahu said. "We are not getting data, we are not able to contact our Gopalpur office people.”
Sahu says Phailin will weaken gradually but the storm will continue to cause heavy rain and gusty winds until late Monday as it moves inward.
"In the northern districts like Balasore and Bhadrak, these districts we have reports that around 80 kilometers per hour winds are blowing towards those areas," Sahu said. "This system is a very strong system, and it is gradually moving towards the northwest, towards the interior parts of Orissa and Chhattisgarh (states)."
By early Sunday, a handful of cyclone-related deaths were reported in both Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, but officials expressed relief that the death toll had not climbed significantly in the subsequent hours.
More than 10 million people live in the path of the storm in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Authorities credit massive preparations in the days ahead of the cyclone for saving lives. Hundreds of thousands of people living in villages along the coast were evacuated to shelters.
Officials did not want a repeat of 1999, when a storm hit the same area, causing widespread damage and killing 10,000 people.
For Phailin, the Indian army, navy and air force have been deployed to assist with rescue and recovery efforts.
On Saturday, Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority Marri Shashidhar Reddy said the priority is to minimize the loss of life.
"The state government, they will be there with their resources, the army, they will be there with their resources, it will be on a war footing as and when things require clearing and other things," Reddy said.
Officials are so far reporting extensive damage to crops, a blow to the impoverished state of Orissa, which relies primarily on agriculture.
As day broke Sunday, authorities were able to get their first opportunity to assess the impact of Phailin, after the very severe cyclone slammed into the eastern states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh with winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour.
With communication and power lines down, Orissa meteorological department chief Sharad Sahu says it will take time to fully assess the damage and casualties associated with the cyclone, particularly in the coastal town of Gopalpur.
“And now mobile [phones] are not working and our office telephone is also not working and some of the walls have collapsed there, so people are not able to collect data," Sahu said. "We are not getting data, we are not able to contact our Gopalpur office people.”
Sahu says Phailin will weaken gradually but the storm will continue to cause heavy rain and gusty winds until late Monday as it moves inward.
"In the northern districts like Balasore and Bhadrak, these districts we have reports that around 80 kilometers per hour winds are blowing towards those areas," Sahu said. "This system is a very strong system, and it is gradually moving towards the northwest, towards the interior parts of Orissa and Chhattisgarh (states)."
By early Sunday, a handful of cyclone-related deaths were reported in both Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, but officials expressed relief that the death toll had not climbed significantly in the subsequent hours.
More than 10 million people live in the path of the storm in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Authorities credit massive preparations in the days ahead of the cyclone for saving lives. Hundreds of thousands of people living in villages along the coast were evacuated to shelters.
Officials did not want a repeat of 1999, when a storm hit the same area, causing widespread damage and killing 10,000 people.
For Phailin, the Indian army, navy and air force have been deployed to assist with rescue and recovery efforts.
On Saturday, Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority Marri Shashidhar Reddy said the priority is to minimize the loss of life.
"The state government, they will be there with their resources, the army, they will be there with their resources, it will be on a war footing as and when things require clearing and other things," Reddy said.
Officials are so far reporting extensive damage to crops, a blow to the impoverished state of Orissa, which relies primarily on agriculture.
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