India on red alert as Cyclone Phailin nears east coast
A
wave hits a breakwater at a fishing harbour in Jalaripeta in the
Visakhapatnam district in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh
yesterday. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in coastal
areas of eastern India and moved to shelters, bracing for the fiercest
cyclone to threaten the country since a devastating storm killed 10,000
people 14 years ago. Photograph: Reuters
Rain and wind lashed India’s east coast and nearly
400,000 people fled to storm shelters after authorities issued a red
alert and warned of major damage when one of the largest cyclones the
country has ever seen hits land later today.
Filling
most of the Bay of Bengal, Cyclone Phailin was about 300km (187 miles)
offshore earlier this morning, satellite images showed, and was expected
to reach land by nightfall.
The storm verged on becoming a “super cyclone” and was expected to affect 12 million people, officials said.
Muslims and Hindus gathered at mosques and
temples in Odisha state, praying Phailin would not be as devastating as a
similar storm that killed 10,000 people 14 years ago. Heavy rain
pounded coastal villages in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Phailin’s
winds were reaching at least 220 kph (137 mph) and it was expected to
cause a 3.4m (11 ft) surge in sea levels when it hit the coast, the India Meteorological Department said in a statement.
“The storm has high damage potential, considering windspeed,” Lakshman Singh Rathore, head of the weather department, said yesterday.
Families
trekked through the rain to shelters, television images showed, as
gusts of wind snapped branches from trees. Tourists left Puri, a popular
beach resort. Officials broadcast cyclone warnings through
loudspeakers, radio and television.
“The wind speed is picking up,” said Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner, Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra. “Some people were earlier reluctant to move. They are willing now.”
In nearby Andhra Pradesh, heavy rain and strong winds pummelled a coastal highway, and left lush green fields sodden with water.
“We
are ready to evacuate,” said wiry-haired Jagdesh Dasari (35), chief of
the fishing village of Mogadhalupadu, which has 2,500 residents, as the
rain poured down.
“If the waves come higher, the whole place will vanish.”
London-based
Tropical Storm Risk said the storm was already in that category, and
classed it as a Category 5 storm - the strongest. The US Navy’s weather
service said wind at sea was gusting at 314 kph.
Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to hurricane Katrina, which tore through the US Gulf coast and New Orleans in 2005.
It also evoked memories of an Indian storm in 1999, when winds reaching speeds of 300 kph battered Odisha for 30 hours.
Strong buildings
This
time, however, the Odisha government said it was better prepared. Half a
million people are expected to shelter in schools and other strong
buildings when the storm hits, officials said. At least 60,000 people
left their homes in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh yesterday.
Authorities
warned of extensive damage to crops, village dwellings and old
buildings, as well as disruption of power, water and rail services.
Shelters were being stocked with rations, and leave for government
employees was cancelled.
A police official said a
rescue effort was launched for 18 fishermen stranded four nautical miles
at sea from Paradip, a major port in Odisha, after their trawler ran
out of fuel.
Paradip halted cargo operations
yesterday. All vessels were ordered to leave the port, which handles
coal, crude oil and iron ore. An oil tanker holding about 2 million
barrels of oil, worth $220 million (€162.5 million), was also moved, an
oil company source said.
The storm was not
expected to hit India’s largest gas field, the D6 natural gas block in
the Cauvery Basin further down the east coast, field operator Reliance Industries said.
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