New Delhi: The deadly cyclone Phailin, which created a national panic, seems to have failed to leave behind a trail of massive death and destruction. An unprecedented and timely evacuation drive, said to be the country's biggest ever, ensured minimum casualties as Phailin slammed into coastal Odisha on Saturday evening. The people are heaving a sigh of relief and the life is slowly returning to normal across the coastal districts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
The government's response to the cyclone has been really good. Even though the hundreds of villages and towns have been damaged by the cyclone, there has been no major loss of life, except a dozen people who died. First, the Met department got it right. It predicted the cyclone Phailin well in advance allowing the government to start a massive evacuation of people from the villages and towns close to the sea. The Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) constantly monitored the approaching cyclone and came out with 100 per cent correct predictions. It has also helped to create an awareness among the people.
Cyclone Phailin left a trail of destruction in its wake, knocking down lakhs of homes affecting nearly 90 lakh people and destroying paddy crops worth about Rs 2,400 crore, but little loss of life was reported in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the country's strongest storm in 14 years. Official sources in New Delhi said the storm left 23 dead in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh after one of the largescale evacuation efforts in the country's recent history. The deaths were reported to have been mainly caused by falling trees and house collapse. After a lengthy disruption, the East Coast railway network was back in service and the power situation had been brought under control.
"The loss of life has been absolutely minimal," a senior Union Government functionary said. Nearly 10,000 people were killed in the previous powerful storm that hit Odisha in 1999. Communication links were vastly disrupted by the strong winds that went upto a speed of 220 kmph when the "very severe" cyclonic storm crossed the coast near Gopalpur last night and weakened before turning into a depression. Ganjam district in Odisha bore the brunt of the storm. A Panama-registered cargoship M V Bingo carrying iron ore was reported to have sunk in 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.
Authorities in Odisha evacuated nearly nine lakh people, the largest in recent history, ahead of the storm to cyclone shelters and public buildings like schools to avoid a repeat of the monstrous 1999 super cyclone. "We are on the whole quite satisfied with the type of evacuation that was done," Vice Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority M Shashidhar Reddy said. In Gopalpur, where the storm struck first, "almost 90-95 per cent people had been evacuated".
Defence and paramilitary personnel were deployed to carry out relief and rehabilitation measures and restoring infrastructure badly affected by the storm. The IMD said in New Delhi that Phailin has weakened into a cyclonic storm with wind speed between 60 and 70 kmph. It is currently close to Jharsuguda in north Odisha. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the primary aim was to minimise loss of human lives and they have successfully managed to do so. "Property to the tune of several crores has been damaged...Rehabilitation will now be done."
