The Severe Cyclonic strom ' Phailin' is to hit the Odisha coast any time now and it was just 40 kilometers off the Gopalpur Coast when reports last came in. It is expected to hit the coast near Gopalpur from 6 to 8 this evening and is likely to stay for six hours before moving ahead.
AIR Corespondent says, under its influence the entire coastal region of Odisha is being lashed by heavy rains today besides squally wind of above 70 km per hour. Electric poles and trees were and three persons were killed in tree fall.
The Met office also predicted tides up to 3.5 meters and sea water surging up to 300 to 600 meters on land. The districts likely to experience tidal surge are Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara. The administration of Balasore and Bhadrak have also been put on alert.
Over 5 and half lakh people living in low lying areas in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have been already been evacuated to safer places. Odisha Special relief commissioner P K Mohapatra said 18 fishermen are trapped near Paradeep.
He said, more than 4 and a half lakh people have already been evacuated from the six coastal districts of Odisha. Of these, 1.2 lakh people have been shifted from the coastal belt of Ganjam and Gopalpur areas alone.He said personnel of Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF and state's ODRAF have taken position at vulnerable points.
Mohapatra said,though the met office forecast say the wind speed will be within 220 kmph, steps are being takne to brace a super strom of 240 to 260 kilometer predicted by the US Navy. He said the storm surge of above three meters is of cause of concern.
Reports from Puri said that sea water gushed into Tandaghar and Keutajanga villages of Astarang and Brahmagiri blocks in the district.
In Andhra Pradesh, more than one lakh people have been evacuated from the vulnerable areas of the north coastal districts.
After reviewing the situation with the collectors of coastal districts, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad that Armed forces with engineering experts, relief material and boats and additional NDRF teams are reaching Visakhaptnam.
Besides, Air Force and Naval choppers are also kept ready. He said all possible arrangements have been made to prevent human losses and reduce damages due to the Phailin. describing the Phailin Cyclone as the biggest ever that hit the country, Kiran said the administration is not leaving any stone unturned to reduce damages as the path of cyclone may go 50 kilometres right or left.
He appealed to people to cooperate with the authorities and move to safer locations. He said some people had to be forceicibly evacuated as they did not want to leave the vulnerable areas.
District Collectors and the special officers have been directed to ensure all arrangement like food, water, milk and medicines at the relief camps. In view of likely damage to communication and electricity lines during the landfall of cyclone Phailin, alternate communication systems like satellite phone, ham radio and wireless sets have been put in place.
Met office says, coastal areas like Digha in East Midnapore and Contai bordering Odisha in West Bengal are expected to have heavy rains, here said.A high tide has already begun in Digha. Fishermen have been alerted and asked not to venture into the sea.
In New Delhi Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth took stock of the preparedness of various Central agencies assigned to provide relief to those affected and
restore normalcy in the aftermath.
Top officials from the ministries of Home, Defence, Petroleum, Telecom, Health, Food, Railways, Drinking Water and Sanitation participated in the meeting.Preparations to deal with the
situation are in "full gear" and the various central ministries have already set up 24x7 control rooms to keep a tab on the evolving scenario.
