The violent cyclone Fani arrived at the Odisha Coast in Puri today, i.e., Friday. May 3, 2019 at 8:00 a.m
The violent cyclone Fani arrived at the Odisha Coast in Puri today, i.e., Friday. May 3, 2019 at 8:00 a.m., causing heavy rainfall coupled with winds travelling at a speed of 175 km/hr.
At least 14 districts fall in the way of Cyclone Fani in Odisha. These include Gajapati, Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Naygarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar.
The winds are expected to reach a speed of 200 km/hr. Most of the areas in Puri and other places have been submerged with water as heavy downpour continues to threaten livelihood. The rans have already damaged a lot of thatched structures at places near Bhubaneshwar. Besides, a lot of trees have also been uprooted near the region.
Ahead of making entry in Odisha, the cyclone moved close to North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, where it caused severe rainfall with winds blowing at a speed of 140 km/hr. As a result, a lot of electricity polls have been displaced in the North Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Safety Measures
The Government of Odisha, as a safety measure, had already evacuated 11 lakh people from the coastal areas to camps on higher grounds. Ganjam and Puri evacuated more than 3 lakh and 1.3 lakh people respectively to safe shelters. To cater to the needs of evacuated people, about 5000 kitchens have started operating to serve people in the shelters.
Control room number of different districts have been issued by the government. The emergency helpline number for Cyclone Fani +916742534177. A list of Railway helpline numbers also has been issued for people in distress.
PLEASE RETWEET –#Odisha’s emergency helpline number for Cyclone Fani +916742534177, Control room number of different districts have been issued #CycloneFani pic.twitter.com/8h4VOMXMwF
— Doordarshan National (@DDNational) May 3, 2019
PLEASE RETWEET – #CycloneFani #Railway Helpline Number pic.twitter.com/6PoukbnvfW
— Istedia (@istedia) May 3, 2019
Taking a note of weather conditions, all flights from Bhubaneswar have been cancelled. Kolkata airport will remain closed till Saturday, May 4, 2019, 6:00 p.m. Also, 140 trains have been cancelled to avoid any encounter with the nature. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Disaster Management Agencies have been placed on stand-by mode and will act in case of the call.
Going ahead, Fani is likely to move towards West Bengal before tapering off.
PM and Mamata change their election rally schedule
The Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi has postponed his election rally in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa, for May 6, 2019 which was earlier planned for May 5, 2019. The Chief Minister of West Bengal – Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her election rallies for 48 hours because of Cyclone Fani.
How Fani got it’s name
The name Fani was given by Bangladesh. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has devised a mechanism where countries submit a list of names from time to time. The names are then selected from this pool. For tropical cyclones developing in the North Indian Ocean, the names are proposed by India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand.
