Picture : Twitter / ANI
The deadly cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ made a landfall in Puri on Odisha coast Friday morning, triggering heavy rainfall coupled with high velocity winds with speed of 175 kmph in vast areas.
According to news agency PTI, Large areas in the seaside pilgrim town of Puri and other places were submerged with water as heavy rains battered the entire coastal belt of the state.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held meetings with concerned officials to deal with the situation
CM @Naveen_Odisha visited @SRC_Odisha office to review preparedness and appealed for people to remain indoors until #CycloneFani passes & advised all officials to make their best efforts to face the cyclone.#OdishaPrepared4Fani pic.twitter.com/34N4VOxI4R
— CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) May 2, 2019
“The cyclone has entered the Odisha coast at Puri around 8 am and it will take around three hours for the entire landfall process to be completed,” Director of Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, H R Biswas said.
The cyclonic system, whose eye is around 28 km, is moving at around 30 kmph, Biswas said, adding the process of landfall is expected to be complete around 11 AM.
Puri and neighbouring areas are experiencing wind with a speed of 175 kilometres per hour which may go up to 200 kmph.
Under the impact of the cyclone, high velocity wind is sweeping across several coastal districts like Ganjam, Puri, Khurda and Gajapati, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said.
Nearly 11 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable and low-lying areas of at least 11 coastal district, he said, adding the evacuees have been accommodated in over 4,000 shelters, including 880 specially designed
cyclone centres.
