Cyclone Fani has hit Odisha this morning and has started making its impact felt. Large areas in the temple town of Puri and other places were submerged as heavy rain battered the coast.
India’s Meteorological Department(IMD) in Hyderabad tracking cyclone Fani said winds have been blowing at a maximum speed of 240-245 km per hour with very heavy rains in Puri and is now likely moving towards West Bengal coast.
Two people were killed due to the cyclone, an official said.
Indian Navy’s P-8I and Dornier have been scheduled to be launched in the afternoon for undertaking aerial survey to assess the extent of impact and devastation post-Fani.
Heavy rainfall and strong winds hit Ganjam as cyclone Fani hit the Puri coast with wind speed of above 175km/per hour.
“In the next three hours, Cyclone Fani is expected to weaken with a wind speed of 150-160 km per hour, subsequently it will weaken and move north-northeastwards. By evening, it may weaken into severe cyclonic storm over extreme northern part of Odisha,” Mrityunjay Mohapatra, IMD official in Delhi said.
Meanwhile, Airports Authority of India said no flight to and from Kolkata airport will be allowed to fly from 3pm today till 8am on Saturday. In a series of tweets, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said Friday that all airlines must immediately respond to the concerns of passengers affected by Cyclone Fani.
“We are ready to offer help needed for the stranded due to cyclonic storm Fani. The control room, helplines are manned all times to assist affected passengers. All Airlines must immediately respond to the concerns of passengers,” he tweeted.
In West Bengal, NDRF team have been deployed at Digha. The disaster relief team have evacuated 132 people, including 52 children, from Dattapur and Tajpur.
Agencies
