"Extremely severe" Cyclone Fani closed in on India’s eastern coast and is expected to make landfall tomorrow, May 3.
Catch the latest updates of the Cyclone and the aftermath here.
Authorities across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal are gearing up with the assistance of the Centre to avoid loss of life and damage.
At least 19 districts in the three states are likely to be affected by the cyclonic storm. It is expected to make landfall south of Puri, Odisha on May 3 afternoon with wind speeds ranging up to 180 kilometres per hour (kmph), causing heavy rainfall in the coastal districts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the storm may surge about 1.5 metres in height and may impact low-lying coastal areas of Odisha’s Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts at the time of landfall.
The IMD has issued a “yellow warning” for the Odisha coast and suggested total suspension of fishing activities, extensive evacuation from coastal areas, and diversion or suspension of rail and road traffic.
Around 900 cyclone shelters have been made ready to house evacuees.
About 8 lakh people are expected to be evacuated from low-lying areas of 14 districts in Odisha to cyclone shelters, safer schools and college buildings.
The state governments have issued advisories and are ensuring that fishermen do not venture into the sea.
The IMD has been issuing bulletins every three hours with the latest forecast to all the states concerned.
States which have offered contribution to Odisha for relief and rehabilitation efforts:
Tamil Nadu: Rs 10 crore.
Maharashtra: Rs 10 crore.
Uttar Pradesh: Rs 10crore
Gujarat: Rs 5 crore
Chhattisgarh: Rs 11 crore
Odisha: Indian Navy has set up relief camps and community kitchens in villages near Puri district affected due to #CycloneFani. Three ships using their integral helicopters are also engaged in relief operations. pic.twitter.com/7DOG0QDrIL
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2019
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami orders an immediate contribution of a sum of Rs.10 crores from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund to the Government of Odisha. #CycloneFani (File pic) pic.twitter.com/3ehhsWRFAe
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2019
East Coast Railways: Bhubaneswar-Yashwantpur Express, Bhubaneswar-Anand Vihar (New Delhi) Express, Odisha Samprak Kranti Express will also run as per schedule. https://t.co/a3HKyC4400
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2019
Odisha CM: Houses completely damaged will be constructed under housing schemes.Loss of agricultural&horticultural crops&animal resources,fisheries will be assessed &compensated accordingly. Tree plantations will be taken up in mission mode soon after relief and restoration. #Fani pic.twitter.com/mqser6SlEh
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2019
PMO Sources: Attention has been drawn to reports in a section of media,that TMC has expressed its displeasure at PM Modi speaking only to WB Governor,about the post-Fani situation in the state. TMC have claimed that the PM had called Odisha¬ WB CM. The claim is incorrect.
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2019
India's zero casualty approach to managing extreme weather events is a major contribution to the implementation of the #SendaiFramework and the reduction of loss of life from such events. I look forward to hearing more about #CycloneFani at the #GP2019Geneva May 13-17. https://t.co/AqwCwNRjxE
— Mami Mizutori (@HeadUNISDR) May 3, 2019
Bishnupada Sethi,Special Relief Commissioner (Odisha): Cyclone period is over but it caused a great devastation in Puri, Bhubaneswar & other places. As we get reports from the dist we see that most of the kutcha houses & old pucca houses have been blown away by storm in Puri dist pic.twitter.com/0IYe74jv5O
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
16 dead in Odisha, massive restoration work mounted
The death toll rose to 16 in Odisha yesterday 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 toll due to Cyclone Fani, which stood at eight on Friday, mounted to 16 yesterday -- four deaths in Mayurbhanj district, 3 each in Puri, Bhubaneswar and Jajpur; and 1 each in Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Kendrapara, officials said. (PTI)
Not much damage by in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee
Except for damaging a few huts, Cyclone Fani did not cause much havoc in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said as the severe cyclonic storm weakened on May 4 morning and headed towards neighbouring Bangladesh.
While flight operations resumed at the Kolkata airport at 9.57 am, train services on the Sealdah and Howrah sections are also getting back to normal.
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) resumed its routine operation on May 4 morning at both Haldia and Kolkata docks.
Bhubaneshwar
The Railways will resume all train services from on May 5, except two, and it has already cleared the
Howrah-Chennai mainline, barely 24 hours after the cyclonehit Odisha, officials said. Read MoreRead more
SDMA sources said the heat wave was likely to persist over the next few days and advised people to restrict outdoor activities especially between noon and 3 pm when the impact could be higher.
Kolkata
As cyclone 'Fani' has moved away, flight operations resumed at and
Bhubaneswar airports on May 4, said the ministry of civil aviation. "Flight operations to and from Bhubaneswar airport has resumed. Alliance Air flight from Ranchi is the first flight to land," tweeted the ministry. Read MoreHyundai Motor India
has stationed a dedicated emergency road service team to support the Fani cyclone affected customers or vehicles in the states of Odisha and West Bengal.
Read moreUpdate:
65 rescue and relief teams of NDRF are pre-positioned in various parts of the vulnerable states. Odisha has 44 teams, WestBengal has 9,Andhra Pradesh has 3, and there is one team each in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya, 2 teams each in Jharkhand, Kerala andTamil
Nadu.
#WATCH Indian Coast Guard conducted aerial survey of Puri, earlier today. #FaniCyclone pic.twitter.com/5r2cdC75Bx
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
Cyclone 'Fani' no more a threat to West Bengal: Met official
Cyclone 'Fani', which ravaged most parts of Odisha and left 12 people dead, poses no threat to West Bengal anymore, as it weakens further before entering neighbouring Bangladesh, a senior official said on Saturday. As per forecast, there will be moderate to light rainfall, particularly in the districts adjacent to Bangladesh, but the weather condition in and around the city will normalise through the course of the day, Deputy Director General of the Regional Meteorological Centre here, Sanjib Bandyopadhyay told PTI.
1.2 million people evacuated in 24 hours: Odisha CM
"A record of 1.2 million people were evacuated in 24 hours, 3.2 lakh from Ganjam, 1.3 lakh from Puri and almost 7000 kitchens catering to 9000 shelters were made functional overnight. This mammoth exercise involved more than 45,000 volunteers," Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said. He added that according to the governmnt's reports, deaths are in single digits.
1.2 million people evacuated in 24 hours: Odisha CM
"A record of 1.2 million people were evacuated in 24 hours, 3.2 lakh from Ganjam, 1.3 lakh from Puri and almost 7000 kitchens catering to 9000 shelters were made functional overnight. This mammoth exercise involved more than 45,000 volunteers," Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said.
PM Modi speaks to West Bengal Governor
As West Bengal braces for Cyclone Fani's landfall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the governor of the state, Keshari Nath Tripathi, about the ground situation. During his conversation with Tripathi, the prime minister reiterated the Centre's readiness to provide all help needed to cope with the extremely severe cyclonic storm.
"Also conveyed my solidarity with the people of Bengal in the wake of Cyclone Fani," Modi said in a tweet. (PTI)
Day after tomorrow, on the 6th morning, I will be going to Odisha to take stock of the situation arising in the wake of Cyclone Fani.
— Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 4, 2019
#Odisha: Visuals from Balarampur village, Jagatsinghpur. #CycloneFani hit the region, yesterday. pic.twitter.com/uPOQ5RjrHv
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
Air India: To re commence operations at Kolkata airport at 09.45 am #CycloneFani pic.twitter.com/obb40kTvQF
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
Jharkhand government asks officials to be prepared for Fani
The Jharkhand government issued an advisory on May 3, asking all district deputy commissioners to set up control rooms to meet any exigency in the wake of the cyclonic storm 'Fani'.
An official release, quoting the regional meteorological department, said from the afternoon of May 3 to May 4, widespread rains accompanied by strong winds will occur in all the 24 districts of the state. (PTI)
IMD UPDATE:
Severe cyclone Fani weakened into a cyclonic storm and lay centered at 60 km NW of Kolkata at 0530 IST on May 4. It is expected to weaken into Deep Depression and move into Bangladesh by noon.
West Bengal: Clearing of uprooted trees from the road underway in Digha, weather clear. #CycloneFani pic.twitter.com/xMg1mdpNdn
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019
Quick Reaction Team of Navy from INS Chilka provided emergency assistance in nearby villages in cutting and clearing of trees which had fallen due to the storm
IMD: It's very likely to continue to move north-northeastwards during next 12 hrs &emerge into Gangetic West Bengal with wind speed of 80-90 kmph gusting to 105 kmph by early morning of May 4. https://t.co/UinBozmYfu
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Visuals of heavy rainfall from Kolkata. #CycloneFani made its landfall in Puri, Odisha earlier in the day.
IMD:Very Severe #CyclonicStormFANI over coastal Odisha moved north-northeastwards at 20 kmph in last 6 hrs&weakened into Severe Cyclonic Storm&lay centered at 2030 hrs over Coastal Odisha about 110 km southwest of Midnapore(WB),80 km southwest of Digha&210 km southwest of Kolkata pic.twitter.com/X8oM1a6TzO
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Fani hits West Bengal
CycloneFani hits West Bengal by crossing Kharagpur. It is expected to continue further in North-East direction with the wind speed of 90 km/hour.
The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘FANI’ (pronounced as ‘FONI’) over Coastal Odisha moved further north-northeastwards with a speed of about 20 kmph in the last six hours and lay centred at 1730 hrs IST of 03rd May, 2019 over Coastal Odisha, about 60 km southwest of Balasore (Odisha) and 160 km southwest of Midnapore (West Bengal). (Image: Indian Meteorological Department)
Update:
Cyclone Fani to move northwards towards West Bengal and the Northeast.National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have reached for pre-positioning in Assam's Cachar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Tinsukia and Jorhat districts, the Times of India has reported.
Helicopters have been kept ready at Bagdogra and Purnea for quick deployment in Odisha and West Bengal, The Times of India quoted aDefence release assaying.
West Bengal: Visuals of heavy rainfall from Kolkata. #CycloneFani made its landfall in Puri, Odisha earlier in the day. pic.twitter.com/dZxOHjraOC
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019
Update from CMO:
Power restoration in Ganjam district to be completed tomorrow and effort been undertaken for other places on war footing. Restoration of roads has started and already completed in Ganjam & Gajapati districts.
CM @Naveen_Odisha chaired review of #CycloneFani situation with Chief Secy & senior officials. In last 24hrs, about 12 lakh people in vulnerable areas & kutcha houses moved to safety. pic.twitter.com/B3MYLtrr9u
— CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) May 3, 2019
JUST IN | Bhubaneshwar Airport to resume activity on May 4, 1 pm onwards, Ministry of Civil Aviation has said in a press release.
Update on resumption of Operations at #Bhubaneswar airport. @AAI_Official @HMOIndia @PIB_India @PIBHindi @aaibpiairport pic.twitter.com/5dvvLeX0yA
— Ministry of Civil Aviation (@MoCA_GoI) May 3, 2019
Cyclone Fani Ground Reports : WEST BENGAL- HIRAPUR
— NDRF (@NDRFHQ) May 3, 2019
𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐅 @ 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝟒 𝐔 #TEAMNDRFINDIA #StaySafe #stayalert #stayprepared @satyaprad1 @PIBHomeAffairs @ndmaindia pic.twitter.com/Z2SG19YqjQ
#WATCH: Visuals from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar after #FaniCyclone made a landfall in Puri earlier in the day. Restoration process underway. pic.twitter.com/zB9FShmLzn
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2019