Cyclone Fani kills 16 in Odisha, restoration effort begins
Bhubaneswar, May 03: The number of deaths in the Cyclone Fani rose to 16 in Odisha on Saturday as the government mounted a massive restoration work across 10,000 villages and 52 urban areas ravaged by the storm that pounded coastal parts of the state, affecting nearly one crore people.
The extremely severe cyclonic storm, that made landfall at Puri on Friday, was one of the "rarest of the rare" summer cyclones -- the first to hit Odisha in 43 years and one of the three to hit in the last 150 years.
It unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 240 kmph, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages, before weakening and entering into West Bengal, officials said.
It was the severest cyclone to hit the state since the Super Cyclone of 1999, which had claimed nearly 10,000 lives and devastated vast areas of the state.
The number of deaths due to Cyclone Fani, which stood at eight on Friday, mounted to 16 on Saturday -- four deaths in Mayurbhanj district, 3 each in Puri, Bhubaneswar and Jajpur; and 1 each in Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Kendrapara.
Cyclone Fani updates:
#Odisha: Visuals from Balarampur village, Jagatsinghpur. #CycloneFani hit the region, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/uPOQ5RjrHv
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
PM Modi: Spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Ji and discussed situation prevailing due to #CycloneFani. Assured continuous support from Central Government in the wake of the cyclone. Entire nation stands in solidarity with all those affected by cyclone in different parts (file pic) pic.twitter.com/8jnAs6XJe3
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019