Cyclone Phailin: 5.25 lakh evacuated from Odisha, AP coastline

New Delhi, Oct 12: Their focus primarily on avoiding any loss of human life, authorities have evacuated more than 5.25 lakh people from the coastal areas of

and

with cyclone 'Phailin' set to hit the eastern coastline.

"Our main focus is to avoid loss of human life. So far we have evacuated 4.25 lakh people in Odisha and 1 lakh more in Andhra Pradesh," Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami told reporters here.

Most of the evacuated people have been sheltered in 500 specially-built cyclone camps in the two states.

Each cyclone shelter can accommodate up to 1,500 people while their ground floors may be used as cattle shelters.

Official sources said authorities have switched off power supply along the Odisha coastline and in three coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh.

In Odisha, the normal power consumption is around 2,800MW but, due ,to the power cut, it had come down to 1,300MW.

In Andhra Pradesh, against a normal usage of around 9,700 MW, the suspension in transmission had brought consumption down to 9,200MW.

Sources said the impact of cyclone 'Phailin' would be highest during the night and gradually come down from dawn.

"We expect that the impact will be over in 18 hours, beginning 6 P.M. today," sources said.

The National Disaster Management Authority said it had deployed nearly 2,000 National Disaster Response Force personnel in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

Most of the evacuated people have been sheltered in 500 cyclone shelters.

A total of 29 NDRF teams have been deployed along with rescue equipment in Odisha.

In Andhra Pradesh, 15 teams are in place while four additional teams are being rushed from Tamil Nadu.

Seven teams have been deployed in West Bengal.

The teams are equipped with satellite phones and wireless sets to maintain communication in case the normal lines are affected due in the cyclone.

"The cyclone, which is moving at a speed of 15kmph is expected to hit the coast near Gopalpur between 6 and 8 P.M. today and is likely to stay for six hours before moving on," LS Rathore, Director General of Meteorology, told reporters earlier in New Delhi today.

PTI